Valdosta pastor awaiting extradition, facing several sexual assault charges

A Valdosta pastor is awaiting extradition to Portland, Oregon where he faces several sexual assault charges.

Helio Santiago Ferreira, 41, is in the Lowndes County Jail. Ferreira is the pastor of Grace Fellowship Seventh Day Adventist Church in Valdosta.
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Ferreira is facing nine felony charges, including rape, sodomy and kidnapping. The cases go back to 2012, and most recently in 2018.

Sheriff Ashley Paulk said the department helped Portland law enforcement obtain DNA, which linked Ferreira to the sex crimes.

While all of the crimes took place in Oregon, local authorities said they're just glad he is off the streets and behind bars, calling him a 'serial rapist.'

Valdosta pastor awaiting extradition, facing several sexual assault charges

Pastor's arrest at 'drag queen story hour' headed for trial

A pastor’s criminal charges are moving forward in an Oregon municipal court after a judge refused to dismiss the case against him.

Afshin Yaghtin, who is represented by the Pacific Justice Institute, is charged with obstructing justice after Spokane police officers arrested him in June outside a public library, where protesters and counter-protesters were gathered to face off over a “drag queen story hour” event.

Yaghtin claims he was not there as a protester but wanted to enter the library to observe the controversial event, which means law enforcement potentially punished him unlawfully.

Pastor's arrest at 'drag queen story hour' headed for trial: Afshin Yaghtin

UPDATED::Eugene church leader jailed on federal child porn charges | KATU

UPDATE::  Former Eugene church leader charged with new sex abuse crimes

A former Eugene church music ministry leader charged in a federal child pornography case last year now is wanted in relation to alleged sexual abuse of a child once in his care.

A warrant was issued last month for the arrest of Edward Samuel Thompson on charges filed July 30. He is in a federal correctional institution in Sheridan awaiting trial in the child pornography case. He will be brought to Lane County later this week and arraigned on two new charges — first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse — Thursday in Lane County Circuit Court.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the alleged abuse occurred between 2012 and 2018. During the 2018 investigation of the case, authorities learned Thompson, who worked at Christ Fellowship Church on River Road, had regularly babysat an elementary school-age child since the child was a toddler.

A music ministry leader at a Eugene church faces child pornography charges, and the FBI urges members of the suspect's current and former church communities to talk to children about any interactions they may have had with the man.

FBI agents and Eugene Police officers arrested Edward Samuel Thompson, 38, at his Eugene home on Tuesday.

The FbI alleges Thompson accessed, received, possessed and distributed child pornography.

Eugene church leader jailed on federal child porn charges | KATU

Former Lincoln City pastor accused of sex crimes | KATU

A former Lincoln City pastor is accused of seven counts of sex crimes.

According to a probable cause affidavit from Lincoln County District Attorney's Office, Mitchell Houston Conte, 35, is charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy, two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, second-degree sex abuse, first-degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor.

 The brother of the victim found Instagram messages between the victim and Conte that were sexually explicit, and wasn't sure what to do. Later, the brother noticed the victim's window open and no one inside, so he went in to her room through the window and found more exchanges over Instagram between the victim and Conte. The brother confronted the victim in the morning, and the victim said she was with Conte at the beach.

Former Lincoln City pastor accused of sex crimes | KATU

Former Lincoln City pastor accused of sex crimes | KATU

A former Lincoln City pastor is accused of seven counts of sex crimes.

According to a probable cause affidavit from Lincoln County District Attorney's Office, Mitchell Houston Conte, 35, is charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy, two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, second-degree sex abuse, first-degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor.

The brother of the victim found Instagram messages between the victim and Conte that were sexually explicit, and wasn't sure what to do. Later, the brother noticed the victim's window open and no one inside, so he went in to her room through the window and found more exchanges over Instagram between the victim and Conte. The brother confronted the victim in the morning, and the victim said she was with Conte at the beach.

Former Lincoln City pastor accused of sex crimes | KATU

UPDATED::Youth pastor charged with seeking sex from girl, 14, he met at church summer camp | OregonLive.com

UPDATE::  Ex-Beaverton youth pastor gets 2 months for trying to lure 14-year-old girl

A former youth pastor and high school marching band instructor was sentenced to two months in jail Thursday after pleading guilty to online sexual corruption of a child.

Ryan Mutchler will also have to register as a sex offender and serve five years of probation.

Mutchler was arrested Sept. 7, 2018 after he was fired from his position at Mountain Park Church in Lake Oswego, according to law enforcement, who say he tried to lure a teen girl into a sexual relationship.

An Oregon youth pastor is accused of trying to have a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl he met at a church camp over the summer, police said.

Ryan Mutchler, 30, faces charges of second-degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor after he was arrested Sept. 7, according to Beaverton police and Washington County court filings.

He was released that same day on $10,000 bail posted by his wife and arraigned Tuesday, court records show.

A pastor at Mountain Park Church in Lake Oswego, police say Mutchler met the girl during a weeklong camp at the end of June and soon began exchanging text messages with her.

Youth pastor charged with seeking sex from girl, 14, he met at church summer camp | OregonLive.com

Ex-youth leader at Yucaipa church accused of molesting 8 children in Calimesa – Press Enterprise

A former youth counselor from Calimesa accused of molesting eight children more than a decade ago is under arrest in Oregon, awaiting extradition to Riverside County, authorities said Monday.

Dustin Colony Herrera is charged with 13 counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old and sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims in a sex crime.

Herrera was taken into custody last week in Medford, Ore., after Jackson County sheriff’s deputies received a request from investigators assigned to the Riverside-based Inland Regional Apprehension Team to serve an arrest warrant on the defendant.Herrera was booked into the Jackson County Correctional Facility, where he’s being held in lieu of $3 million bail.

Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Carroll said an extradition proceeding to return Herrera to California is pending.

Ex-youth leader at Yucaipa church accused of molesting 8 children in Calimesa – Press Enterprise

UPDATED::Mtn. Church ex-pastor pleads guilty in hidden camera case

UPDATE::  Ex-youth pastor sentenced to 15 years o sex abuse cahrge [sic]

The Mail Tribune reports U.S. District Court Judge Anne Aiken ruled Thursday that Donald Courtney Biggs be considered a “repeat and dangerous sex offender” for secretly recording dozens of young women and juvenile girls undressing in bathrooms at multiple church events between at least March 2013 through September of 2014.

UPDATE::  Ex-youth pastor attacked during sentencing on sex abuse plea

A former youth pastor was attacked in federal court during his sentencing Wednesday on a sex abuse charge by an unknown man who lunged over the railing from the gallery.
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The Mail Tribune, which was covering the hearing, said police Lt. Justin Ivens told reporters outside the courthouse that Biggs was transported to a local hospital to be checked for injuries after being punched once in the face.

The assailant, whose name was not released, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing governmental or judicial administration, fourth-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Although the attack occurred in federal court, the person will be charged in state court, Ivens said.

UPDATE:: Ex-pastor's texts will play into sentencing on sex crime

A former Medford youth pastor will be sentenced in August for secretly recording at least one juvenile in a bathroom during a church trip to California.

Former Mtn. Church youth pastor Donald Courtney Biggs, 39, will be sentenced Aug. 20 for placing a hidden camera in a bathroom and capturing a girl exiting a shower in Huntington Beach, California, during a March 2013 church trip.

The hearing previously had been slated for June, but Terry Kolkey, Biggs’ public defender, said he needed more time to sort through evidence submitted by prosecutors in the case, citing recordings created during dozens of church events and thousands of pages worth of text messages, according to documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

A former Medford youth pastor faces 10 to 15 years in prison after admitting he secretly recorded a juvenile in a bathroom.

In a U.S. District courtroom in Medford filled with youths, parents and church leaders he betrayed, Donald Courtney Biggs, 39, pleaded guilty Friday to a single felony count of transporting with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

The guilty plea spares Biggs, formerly a youth pastor at Mtn. Church in downtown Medford, and dozens of victims Biggs allegedly recorded in secret, from a weeks-long trial that was set to start later this month.

Mtn. Church ex-pastor pleads guilty in hidden camera case

Father arrested after deceased 10-month-old Ogden boy found in trash can | Deseret News

According to the probable cause statement, the boy's mother told police Hidalgo was watching the 10-month-old and another child while she ran errands. When she returned to the apartment, Hidalgo was "sitting on the couch in the front room reading a Bible and watching a video of religious music and sermons," the statement said.

When the mother asked Hidalgo about the boy, Hidalgo "told her he had built an altar like they had talked about," according to the statement.

Police said when the mother asked where her son was, Hidalgo told her he was dead. He then began "talking about (the baby) having 666 on him," the statement said. The mother started looking for the boy and couldn't find him, police said, and she picked up her phone to make a call. Hidalgo told her not to or "she'll send him to prison," police said.

Father arrested after deceased 10-month-old Ogden boy found in trash can | Deseret News

Faith-healing couple plead guilty in infant's death - KOIN

In a move aimed at striking at the heart of an Oregon City faith healing church, prosecutors got what they hope is a major victory Monday.

In an unprecedented court hearing, the parents of a newborn baby who died not only pleaded guilty to the infant's death but also had to write a letter to other members of the Followers of Christ Church, instructing them that they should have sought medical care for their daughter, Ginnifer in March of 2017.
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Under the plea bargain, the letter by Sarah and Travis Mitchell must be posted in the church. In addition, Sarah's father -- Walter White -- also had to write a similar letter denouncing faith healing, which will also be posted in the church in Oregon City.

The Clackamas County District Attorney hopes the letters will carry significant weight because White is the patriarch of the church. His father, also named Walter White, was the original church minister who brought the sect to Oregon City, after breaking off from other faith healing congregations in Idaho. Church insiders told KOIN 6 that when the elder White died in 1969, he was the last minister of the congregation of about 2,000 members. For the last 48 years, the church has operated without a preacher, instead relying on a core group of elders for leadership. 

Faith-healing couple plead guilty in infant's death - KOIN

MLB draft: Luke Heimlich, convicted child molester, likely to be selected (UPDATE)

The draft was held not long after this article appeared, Heimlich was not drafted.

For more than a year now, teams have grappled with the idea of Heimlich. He is Oregon State’s ace and one of the best college pitchers in the nation; he is the signatory of a guilty plea to molesting a 6-year-old female relative when he was 15. He is a left-hander whose fastball tops out at 97 mph; he is an endless supply of bad headlines, treacherous questions and awful publicity. He is worthy of a second chance, with low recidivism rates for the crime to which he admitted; he now says that despite the guilty plea, he didn’t commit that crime, which only confuses the matter more.

Sports so often stumbles as it tries to strike the balance between talent and principle, and Heimlich’s case is no exception. His eventual signing will represent a clear value judgment: that his ability as a baseball player outweighs the moral quagmire of his actions and serves as an admission that the organization will embrace someone who in his guilty plea wrote “I admit that I had sexual contact” with a little girl.

It presents a litmus test that the Baltimore Orioles took last year, when they engaged in conversations with Heimlich about signing him as a non-drafted free agent, three sources familiar with the conversations told Yahoo Sports. While the sides did not strike a deal, the discussions with the Orioles showed Heimlich that even a few months after the disclosure of his case by The Oregonian, he was not entirely toxic to teams.

MLB draft: Luke Heimlich, convicted child molester, likely to be selected

See also::  Portland Tribune's look at the history and background of Heimlich's juvenile case

#11::Police Identify Murder Victim as Transgender Woman - Blogtown - Portland Mercury

The Portland police have identified the victim of a downtown homicide as a transgender woman.

According to Portland Police Bureau (PPB) report, the 28-year-old woman named Gigi was found with a fatal gunshot wound late Monday evening on SW 2nd between SW Ash and SW Ankeny.

Officers who arrived at the scene arrested one suspect, 33-year-old Sophia Grace Adler, who has since been booked in the Multnomah County Jail on murder charges.

It wasn't until 5:30 pm that the police identified Gigi as a trans woman. According to PPB, Gigi is from Boise, Idaho. It's unknown how long she had been visiting—or living in—Portland.

Police Identify Murder Victim as Transgender Woman - Blogtown - Portland Mercury

Oregon missionary found guilty of sexually abusing Cambodian orphans

A U.S. jury found a Christian missionary from Oregon guilty Wednesday of multiple sex abuse charges for molesting children living at an unlicensed Cambodian orphanage that he operated in Phnom Penh over a period of years.

Daniel Stephen Johnson, 40, was convicted of six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count each of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and aggravated sexual assault with children. He faces a minimum of 30 years in prison when sentenced in August in Eugene, Oregon.

Oregon missionary found guilty of sexually abusing Cambodian orphans

Jury convicts Gresham pastor of sex abuse | KATU

 A Gresham pastor has been convicted of sexually abusing a former family member.

The Deschutes County jury found former Bend resident Jamie Worley guilty of seven felonies in a case that involves abuse that took place between 2002 and 2004. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on eight other counts.

Jury convicts Gresham pastor of sex abuse | KATU

Original story::  Pastor, former police officer accused of child sex crimes

Ex-Oregon pastor sentenced to 11 years for child porn | Oregon

A former Oregon church camp director was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for transporting child pornography.

According to the Department of Justice, James Parkhurst, 57, took nude photos of children in his care in Colorado in August 2010, then transported them to his home in Michigan.

Authorities found hundreds of thousands of images and thousands of videos on computers in Parkhurst's Oregon home in 2016, according to the DOJ.

Parkhurst was the executive director of camp and retreat ministry programs for the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church from April 2015-August 2016. He was placed on leave after his arrested on August 2, 2016. Officials from the church said his charges were unrelated to his work there and he did not work directly with children. 

Ex-Oregon pastor sentenced to 11 years for child porn | Oregon

Salem's Morning Star Church pastor quits after sexual misconduct claim

"Sexual immorality" was the reason cited when longtime Pastor Ken Engelking resigned in January from Morning Star Community Church in Salem.

Four women had come forward the previous spring with allegations against Engelking, two other former church staff members and a member of an affiliated church.

In a 23-page annotated letter to the Morning Star board of directors, the women chronicled accusations of an abusive, adulterous relationship involving Engelking, and sexual assault and rape by three other men over more than 20 years, including as recently as 2010.

The church sought legal counsel, then hired a private investigator to look into the allegations. Nine months later, the board asked Engelking to resign.

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The criminal statute of limitations has passed for all but one of the alleged assaults.

Salem's Morning Star Church pastor quits after sexual misconduct claim

Sex abuse victim sues Boy Scouts of America | KATU

In early January, 46-year-old Douglas Young entered a plea of no contest to the sexual abuse and exploitation of ten young boys.

“In addition to severe sexual abuse, he used these children to produce child pornography,” Attorney Stephen Crew with Crew Janci Attorneys said.

The whistleblower in this case, a 12-year-old boy scout.

Young was the boy's scoutmaster. They met at a church in Lebanon.

Sex abuse victim sues Boy Scouts of America | KATU

Local businessman, church leader arrested on child sex charges

An active member with McMinnville's Nazarene Church on the Hill, Vaughn Leslie Monagon, 41, was charged Friday with four counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

First-degree sexual abuse is a Class B felony and Measure 11 offense punishable by a lengthy mandatory minimum prison sentence.

Monagon was booked into the Yamhill County Jail on $200,000 bail. He has been released after posting the required 10 percent. He will make his first circuit court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. He will be arraigned at that time and his release status will be discussed.

Local businessman, church leader arrested on child sex charges

Tigard investigators arrest religious instructor accused of abusing girls | OregonLive.com

Muhammad L. Hasan ran AICQ, a Tigard business that offered private Quran instruction, the city's police department said in a news release. He was indicted last week and arrested Wednesday.

Hasan's indictment lists six counts of first-degree sex abuse and a single count of third-degree sex abuse. He's accused of kissing one of the girls on multiple occasions and touching another's breast or breasts, according to the document.

Tigard investigators arrest religious instructor accused of abusing girls | OregonLive.com

Husband catches Christian school teacher in bed with teen: cops | New York Post

A former Christian school teacher faces charges after her husband reportedly busted her having an affair with a 15-year-old student.

Andrea Nicole Barber, 29, was arrested Friday at her home in Cottage Grove, Oregon, just days after her spouse allegedly walked in on her and the student in bed, The News-Review reported.

Soon after they were caught, the teen’s father received an anonymous email asking whether he knew his son and the Logan Christian Academy teacher were in a sexual relationship, authorities said.

In the Dec. 12 message, photos were attached of the boy in bed with the English teacher.

Husband catches Christian school teacher in bed with teen: cops | New York Post