Oregon Minister, Kids Camp Director Accused of Making Child Pornography

By Kellee Azar
KATU
August 6, 2016

http://katu.com/news/local/oregon-minister-kids-camp-leader-accused-of-producing-child-porn

[with video]

A minister is locked up in the Multnomah County jail, accused of producing child pornography in Colorado.

U.S. Marshals will be transferring James Parkhurst, a United Methodist Church Deacon and Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Programs for the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church , into federal custody for the case that originates out of the District of Colorado Federal Court.

According to the church's communication director, Greg Nelson, Parkhurst went through an extensive background check before being hired.

"We have a process of screening employees and volunteers that are part of our program, he passed that screening. We also have processes to protect children or vulnerable adults when they are working in our camp or churches," Communications Director Greg Nelson said.

Nelson said Parkhurst's daily responsibilities as executive director of the retreats would have been mostly in the church office building and not with children.

"His role was the executive director, so in that capacity, he mostly worked with fiscal and programming matters. He didn’t do day to day at camps or with campers. He may have visited on site in a supervisor capacity, but he would have been spending more time more working with adults," Nelson explained.

According to law enforcement, none of the charges Parkhurst is facing are related to the work he has done over the last year in Oregon, Nelson said.

"Safety of campers is always our highest priority with our camp and ministry programs, as well as local churches, so we have policies and guidelines to assure the safe experiences for everyone involved," Nelson said.

The Oregon-Idaho conference also released this statement:

"We were surprised and shocked at the arrest of Jim Parkhurst. He is currently on administrative leave pending investigation of the matter. At this time we don’t know any details of the arrest other than the charges.

Parkhurst’s work was primarily as a manager, working out of our Portland office dealing with fiscal, personnel and program matters. He was not an onsite staff member at any of our camp facilities. We understand that the charges do not stem from any criminal activity related to his work for the church or in the state of Oregon.

The health and safety of campers and guests at Oregon-Idaho Conference Camp and Retreat facilities is our highest priority. All staff and volunteer receive regular criminal background checks and must comply with policies for maintaining a safe environment."

U.S. Marshals are slated to take Parkhurst to Colorado Friday afternoon, where he will face those federal charges of producing child pornography.