Former Medford Youth Pastor Accused of Secretly Videotaping Women and Girls

By Thomas Moriarty
Mail Tribune
January 22, 2015

http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150122/NEWS/150129867/101064/NEWS

Medford police have added child pornography charges against a former youth pastor they allege had been secretly videotaping women at various locations in Jackson County.

According to a Medford Police Department news release, investigators with the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force so far have obtained 28 videos from a hidden camera in the bathroom of Donald Biggs' Jacksonville home showing women and young girls in various states of nudity.

Biggs, 36, has been held in the Jackson County Jail on charges of invasion of privacy and two counts of second-degree burglary since Jan. 15, when he was arrested, police say, after they connected him to a Jan. 12 burglary at Mountain Christian Fellowship, where he was formerly a youth pastor.

He's now also charged with six counts of using a child in a display of a sex act, six counts of encouraging first-degree child sex abuse and two counts of private indecency. Using a child in a display of a sex act is a Class A felony, carrying a minimum sentence of more than five years in prison without parole under Measure 11 guidelines.

Biggs had been placed on administrative leave from the church this fall after police began investigating what they say was inappropriate texting between him and a 14-year-old girl. After the burglary, police brought him in for questioning and got a search warrant for his home. The probable cause affidavit for Biggs' arrest has been sealed under court order.

In a statement to media Monday, Mountain Christian Fellowship Pastor Jim Wright said he was shocked by the news of Biggs' alleged crimes.

"Donald Biggs was a trusted employee that served at (Mountain Church) for several years, and I am shocked and saddened with the information that has led to his arrest," Wright wrote. "The actions of any one individual is not representative of Mountain Church or Jesus’ church as a whole."

Wright said he was not at liberty to comment about the investigation itself.

Police say investigators are still analyzing what they describe as a "considerable" amount of computer evidence. Biggs' bail has been set at more than $6 million.