Man faces 24 charges after deputies say he produced child pornography, abused children
Published at | Updated at
GEORGETOWN — A man was arrested Monday after Bear Lake County Sheriff deputies discovered him producing and distributing child pornography, according to court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com
Robert William Biggs, 49, is facing 20 felony counts of child sexual exploitation, three felony counts of child sex abuse and one felony count of lewd conduct with a minor. If convicted, Biggs could spend up to life in prison.
On Dec. 14, Bear Lake County deputies were contacted by an investigator from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office with information about possible sexual exploitation. The investigator told deputies he was contacted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about images obtained in a search warrant from New York. The images contained the GPS coordinates of Biggs home in Georgetown, a small town in southeast Idaho, according to court documents. Biggs lived in the home with his wife and several children, according to court documents.
Police spoke to Biggs’ wife on Dec. 19 and she agreed to turn over all electronic devices in their home. She told deputies Biggs kept several of his devices, including an Iphone X, matching the device the photos were taken on. When deputies spoke with Biggs at his shop in Montpelier, he denied ever taking inappropriate pictures of the minors. Deputies then took all the devices and sent them to Boise for forensic analysis, according to court documents.
When the report and devices were returned to the Bear Lake County Sheriff’s Office on March 22, a report detailed the files that had been recovered. Investigators allegedly found over 80 files, including pictures and videos of prepubescent girls in sexually explicit activities. Some of the images allegedly show an adult man, believed to be Biggs, abusing the girls, an affidavit of probable cause says.
Investigators also found the images allegedly taken on Biggs phone had been shared through the apps “Kik” and “Tumblr.”
“He (the forensic investigator) details that recovered conversations suggest that the suspect was probably planning to continue his behavior with the victims using over-the-counter medications,” a deputy said in his report.
Biggs was taken to the Caribou County Jail by Bear Lake County Deputies. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.