Spy camera traced to Sherwood priest spurs arrest warrant

By Emily E. Smith
Oregonian
August 18, 2015

http://www.oregonlive.com/sherwood/index.ssf/2015/08/spy_camera_purchase_traced_to.html

St. Francis Catholic Church and St. Francis School are located in Sherwood.

St. Francis School shares a campus with St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood.

The St. Francis church and school buildings sit beneath a canopy of pine trees in Sherwood.

St. Francis Catholic Church is located in Sherwood.

Police say a "wall socket hidden camera" was found in the bathroom of St. Francis Catholic Church on April 26.

Ysrael Bien

Father Ysrael Bien logged on to a spy-gear website and paid $295 for the hidden camera that was discovered last spring in a Sherwood church bathroom, according to information turned over to police this week.

The camera, designed to look like an electrical outlet, came from the online retailer SpyGuy Security based in Dallas, Texas. Police served a search warrant for transaction records there Monday after the business tipped them off.

A Washington County judge signed a warrant Tuesday for Bien's arrest on misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and initiating a false report, but police think the priest may not be in the U.S.

They did not find him at his last known address in Portland. Another priest there told them that Bien had left the country. Officers believe Bien left on June 30, said Capt. Ty Hanlon, a police spokesman.

Bien, who led the congregation at St. Francis Catholic Church, has been on administrative leave since June 24, when the Archdiocese of Portland suspended him because of his involvement in the investigation.

Church leaders learned that Bien had gone to visit family in The Philippines only after he'd left, the archdiocese said.

"It is gravely troubling to find out that one of our priests has been charged with criminal misconduct," Archbishop Alexander Sample said in a statement, "but we appreciate the diligence of the Sherwood Police Department in pursuing its investigation of the incident."

Developments in the case this week followed a surprising turn of events for the owner of SpyGuy Security.

After six years in the spy-gear business, owner Allen Walton told The Oregonian/OregonLive by phone Tuesday that he experienced a first last week.

That's when a visitor to the SpyGuy website began live-chatting with his employee, he said. The person asked if the company had sold a hidden camera to someone in Sherwood. When the employee said he couldn't give out that information, the person explained that one of these cameras was discovered in a church bathroom.

The employee searched online and found news reports about the camera discovered at St. Francis and how the priest handled it.

After combing through the company's transaction history, the business owner called police.

Walton said he found Bien's name on an order placed in March for a "wall socket hidden camera." It was paid for with an American Express gift card – the kind you can buy in a grocery store, he said.

"It looked like he wanted this to be untraceable," Walton said.

The camera is motion-activated with a five-hour battery, Walton said. It records high-quality video that saves to a memory card.

His customers are typically looking to use his products to prove abuse, harassment or theft, he said. They're often beleaguered employees looking to bust their boss or coworker. Many buyers are looking to catch a cheating spouse. Some are concerned about parents or family members.

Walton said the business also has catered to law enforcement, private investigators and loss-prevention workers.

If he becomes suspicious about a customer's intentions, he won't sell a camera to them, he said.

"We don't want their business at all," he said.

His records show that Bien didn't speak to anyone at SpyGuy over the phone, via email or online chat, he said. It appears he simply placed the order online, as many customers do.

A 15-year-old St. Francis parishioner found the hidden camera affixed to a bathroom wall on April 26. The device looked like a power outlet placed at waist-height near the toilet. Thinking that was odd, the teenager pulled it off the wall and brought it to the priest.

Bien told the boy and his father that he would report the discovery to police, according to court records. Instead, for the next three weeks, Bien lied to the boy's parents about making a report and then fabricated a detailed story about the non-existent police investigation, records say.

The parents continued pressing him for updates, and Bien admitted May 19 that he had lied to them about alerting authorities, according to records. He told them that the camera had gone missing shortly after their son found it and that he feared he would suffer consequences for losing it.

The next day – 24 days after the camera had been discovered – Bien contacted police and reported that a hidden camera was missing.

Walton, the business owner, said he hoped his information would lead to Bien's arrest.

Usually, people in predicaments come to his website seeking answers or solutions, he said. Sometimes they find answers that upset them.

After this transaction, he said, he's the one in shock.