The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Earler this year, Garrett Biggerstaff, pastor of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fairfield, Illinois, was accused of sexually grooming a child. Pleasant Grove is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. After his arrest, Biggerstaff resigned from the church. Biggerstaff was also an employee of Spring Garden Consolidated Community School District in Ina, Illinois.
A former pastor and Illinois school district employee has been arrested and charged with two counts of sexually grooming a child, following a months-long investigation.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office posted an update to Facebook announcing the arrest of 28-year-old Garrett S. Biggerstaff of Mcleansboro.
According to authorities, the investigation into Biggerstaff began last September when “the Benton Police Department received information from a juvenile claiming to be the target of some form of sexual exploitation.”
“Officers handling the complaint in Benton contacted Detectives from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and a coordinated investigation [began],” stated the sheriff’s office.
“Evidence was collected and examined by the Sheriff’s Office member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. From this work, a second juvenile victim was identified.”
After Biggerstaff was arrested Thursday, he was transported to the Jefferson County Jail and booked on felony charges. His bond was set at $150,000.
Biggerstaff was a pastor at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fairfield, but was “suspended immediately,” reported Baptist Press about the church which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Upon being arrested, he offered his resignation, which church leadership accepted on Sunday.
Additionally, Biggerstaff had also been employed at the Spring Garden Consolidated Community School District in Ina, Illinois, resigning last November as the investigation continued.
Today, Biggerstaff pleaded guilty to one count of child grooming.
A 28-year-old former pastor and athletic director pleaded guilty Monday in Jefferson County Court to one of two felony charges of child grooming.
Garrett Biggerstaff, who was a pastor at the time for Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fairfield, was arrested in January in two separate cases accusing him of child grooming. The church terminated Biggerstaff shortly after his arrest. He was also serving as Athletic Director at Spring Garden Consolidated Community School District at the time but resigned after the information became public.
Investigations into the two cases began in September 2022 when Benton Police received information from a juvenile claiming to be the target of sexual exploitation.
Officers handling the complaint in Benton contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and started a coordinated investigation that ultimately resulted in a search of Biggerstaff’s homes.
Investigators say a collection of evidence revealed a second juvenile victim and the completed investigation was turned over to the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Warrants were then issued on January 4, 2023, for Biggerstaff’s arrest and he was taken into custody the following day.
Judge Jerry Crisel denied a defense motion last week to again vacate a jury trial scheduled for next week on both cases, with a final pretrial hearing scheduled for September 11.
During a final pretrial Monday, Biggerstaff entered into a plea agreement with the state and filed an open plea of guilty in one case in exchange for the other case being dismissed. An open plea of guilty doesn’t come with a sentencing agreement.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced on October 19.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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