ALBANY, Ore. — Albany police arrested a Corvallis priest on child pornography charges on Thursday morning after finding hundreds of explicit pictures and videos on his computer.
Stanley Brittain, 39, who is also known as Father Isidore, appeared in Linn County Court on Friday and held on $100,000 bond.
Detectives searched Brittain’s Albany home Thursday morning and said they found evidence to charge him with 25 counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the first degree and 25 counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the second degree.
Brittain lives in a trailer behind the house where his parents live, according to court documents.
When detectives arrived, they found him naked, court documents say. Albany police obtained a search warrant after detectives in Oklahoma tied Brittain to a suspect arrested in that state.
Brittain was just a regular member of Saint Anne Orthodox Church in Corvallis, but would regularly stand at the alter with the official priest because Brittain himself used to be a priest of an Orthodox church in Alaska and Nevada.
Brittain had no official responsibilities or contact with children, said Archbishop Benjamin, who heads the western diocese of the Orthodox Church based in San Francisco.
According to Linn County prosecutor Michael Wynhausen, Brittain’s alleged crimes have nothing to do with the church.
Wynhausen said Brittain was involved in trafficking and trading child pornography but says no evidence suggests the victims were in Oregon or that Brittain himself produced any of the material.
Albany Police said their investigation started with a tip from the Oregon Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Detectives worked with the state to serve a search warrant at around 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Brittain was booked into the Linn County Jail. He will appear in court again May 5.
Anyone with information about Stanley Brittain is asked to contact the Albany Police Detective Unit at 541-917-7680.
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