Corvallis priest arrested by Albany police on child porn charges
An Albany man who was a priest with an Orthodox church in the Lewisburg area was arrested Thursday on child pornography charges.
Stanley Brittain, 39, of Albany, was charged in Linn County Circuit Court on Friday with 16 counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse.
Until last week, Brittain was associated with St. Anne Orthodox Church, near Corvallis.
Judge Thomas McHill set Brittain’s bail at $100,000, and appointed Arnold Poole as his attorney.
Prosecutor Michael Wynhausen said Brittain was trafficking in hundreds, possibly thousands, of images and videos of young boys being subjected to what Wynhausen termed “horrific” sexual abuse.
He added that Brittain had been using methamphetamine before his arrest.
“At this point, the 16 counts are just a small fraction of the charges that could be leveled against him,” Wynhausen said.
The investigation into Brittain started in January, when police arrested a suspect in Oklahoma who was communicating with Brittain, Wynhausen said.
Albany Police Detective Lt. Travis Giboney said Brittain was an unpaid staff member and loosely affiliated with St. Anne Orthodox Church.
Capt. Eric Carter added that there is no evidence that Brittain was grooming potential victims from the congregation.
“There’s nothing at the onset that leads us to believe (the crimes) were associated with the church,” Carter added.
Police haven’t identified any of the children from the images, he said.
“It is all surrounding possession of what we could consider child pornography,” Carter said.
On Thursday at about 11:30 a.m., Albany detectives, with the assistance of the Oregon Department of Justice, served a search warrant on Brittain’s residence in the 2400 block of Eighth Avenue Southeast.
Brittain was cooperative, and authorities seized computers and other electronic devices, Carter said.
Brittain, a South Albany High School graduate, also was known as Father Isidore within the church.
St. Anne Orthodox Church was created in the early 1990s and was originally in Albany.
In 2003, the church purchased the historic Lewisburg Grange Hall and moved there.
About 100 people now attend the church on a typical Sunday.
Attempts to contact St. Anne Orthodox Church for comment were unsuccesful on Friday, in part because of Good Friday services.
The police investigation into Brittain continues, and those with information about the case can call 541-917-7680.