Susan Marks, a spokeswoman for Christ Church, a picturesque church on East Putnam Avenue, said that Robert F. Tate, the music director, had recently resigned, and that the church's membership had been notified. She referred all other questions to the church's lawyer, Eugene J. Riccio. "All I want to say is I cannot comment on this matter at this point," Mr. Riccio said.

It was unclear whether the reputed pornographic images that piqued the criminal investigation were stored on a church-owned computer or not. "It's hard to tell whose computer was whose," said a federal official familiar with the investigation.

Investigators are also trying to determine whether Mr. Tate had any improper contact with any of the minors he may have known through the church, according to someone else familiar with the investigation.

Spokesmen for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut did not return calls seeking comment late Tuesday.

Mr. Tate could not be reached for comment. Several phone numbers with which he was previously associated either were disconnected, or calls to them went unanswered. A woman at a home owned by Mr. Tate said that she rented and that he was not there.

A biography of Mr. Tate that until recently was on the Web said he came to Christ Church from the National Cathedral in Washington, where he was assistant organist. He got a master's degree in 1968 from the College of Churc h Musicians at Washington Cathedral and then studied at the Juilliard School in Manhattan, according to the biography.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/nyregion/25choir.html?_r=1&oref=slogin