JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 28-year-old former pastor and athletic director was sentenced Thursday in Jefferson County Court on one of two felony charges of child grooming.

Garrett Biggerstaff was sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for one count of Grooming. He was also fined $10,000 and must make restitution to the victims in his case.

Biggerstaff was a pastor at the time of his arrest for Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fairfield when he 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 who was claiming to be the target of some form 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 that there was 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.

He pleaded guilty last month in one grooming case in exchange for the other case being dismissed.