Oregon Priest Arrested on 50 Child Porn Counts

KOIN
April 18, 2014

http://koin.com/2014/04/18/oregon-priest-arrested-child-porn/

Stanley Brittain, 39, arrested in Albany, Ore. April 17, 2014 on child porn charges. (Albany Police Department)

A priest who up until last week served at a Corvallis church was arrested on child porn charges Thursday, the Albany Police Department confirms.

Stanley Brittain, 39, was taken into custody Thursday and booked into the Linn County Jail on 25 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree and 25 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree following the execution of a search warrant.

Investigators were tipped off to Brittain’s alleged activity by the Oregon Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

The Albany resident, also known as “Father Isidore,” was associated as a priest for St. Anne Orthodox Church, though Father Stephen Soot said he was removed from the clergy about a week ago and was not an employee of the church.

Soot said he and the church staff were surprised by the accusations and “are doing the best they can.”

“We are all devastated,” he said Friday. “This has hit everyone like a ton of bricks.”

Brittain “was in recovery of alcoholism,” according to Soot.

It is not uncommon for priests in the Orthodox Church to use a different name from their given name.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding Stanley Brittain is asked to contact the Albany Police Detective Unit at 541.917.7680.