Fresno church staffer tried to take photos 'up the skirts' of girls at puppet show, FBI says
A former Fresno church employee is facing child porn charges and tried to take photos "up the skirts" of young girls while he led biblical puppet shows, according to a criminal complaint.
Forrest Awbrey, who worked as a janitor and assisted in children's activities at First Church of God, also admitted to the FBI that he used a camera disguised as a ballpoint pen in an attempt to record people in the church bathroom, according to the complaint filed March 9 with the U.S. District Court in Fresno.
The confession came after Fresno's FBI Child Exploitation Task Force began investigating Awbrey in 2016 for downloading nearly 2,000 photographs of child porn and more than 100 illegal videos. During the investigation, Awbrey, 27, of Fresno, admitted to trying to get photos and videos of students as young as the fourth grade at church, but said he failed to capture the footage.
The FBI found no videos or photos of people at the church on First Street north of Dakota Avenue, but found videos of people using the bathroom in Awbrey's home, which he said he used a pen camera to capture.
"Awbrey was successful in producing videos from the bathrooms of his home, which targeted unwitting family members and guests, but was unable to produce any video at his church," FBI special agent Joshua Ratzlaff said in the complaint.
Awbrey told Ratzlaff that he had reported the child porn content he downloaded to anti-child porn websites "to further offset his feelings of guilt."
Church of God Pastor Rev. Greg Kendall said Awbrey has been banned from the church since last year because of the investigation.
Awbrey had a part-time custodial role and assisted in children's programs because his mother was the children's program director, Kendall said. She has since resigned.
"We're just relieved that it didn't escalate anymore, and we're relieved that the investigation did not find any pictures on his devices that were taken on our campus," Kendall said Monday. "I think there is some anger (among church members) but it's just a very sad, unfortunate situation. We're relieved that he's going to be charged because he should be."
Awbrey was arrested March 12 and is charged with violating federal laws that prohibit receiving or distributing child porn. Such charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Mackenzie Mays: 559-441-6412, @MackenzieMays
This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Fresno church staffer tried to take photos 'up the skirts' of girls at puppet show, FBI says."