Director of Jared Fogle s Charity Will Plead Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

Taylor was himself the victim of child molestation: Lawyer

Photo: Indiana State Police

Russell Taylor, the former executive director of ex-Subway spokesman Jared Fogle’s charity, has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he used hidden cameras in his homes to make more than 400 child pornography videos, some of which he shared with Fogle, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Taylor faces 15 to 35 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after admitting to 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and distribution and receipt of child pornography and a related conspiracy charge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Indianapolis. Taylor also must pay restitution, but the amount has not been determined.

The plea agreement comes two weeks after Fogle agreed to plea guilty to having sex with at least two minors and obtaining child pornography of 12 other children as young as six years old. Fogle faces a prison sentence of five to 12-and-a-half years.

Prosecutors say that Taylor, 43, secretly filmed 12 children, some of them relatives and others he knew, between March 2011 and April 2015 while they were in the bathroom showering, bathing and changing clothes, among other activities.

He shared with Fogle, 38, some of those images, as well as commercially-made child porn he downloaded from the Internet, according to federal charging documents.

“He’s certainly very remorseful for the situation,” Taylor’s attorney, Brad Banks, tells PEOPLE. “He wanted this to end as quickly as possible for everyone involved.”

Among those impacted are Taylor’s own children, Banks said. “The kids his kids go to school with know that that’s their dad,” Banks said.

Banks said that Taylor’s interest in child pornography likely stemmed from his own childhood abuse. “He did suffer some years of molestation as a kid that was never dealt with or treated,” Banks said. “That warps someone’s mind.”

Taylor’s own upbringing, Banks said, is “not an excuse, it’s an explanation for how someone gets to a point where they think it’s psychologically okay and seems normal.”

The U.S. Attorney’s office condemned Taylor’s behavior. “Adults who sexually exploit children by producing child pornography knowingly cause vast harm to their victims,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said in a statement.

In addition to prison time, Taylor faces supervised release for the rest of his life, cannot possess any pornography, must get sexual disorders treatment, cannot have unsupervised contact with minors and must register as a sex offender, according to the terms of the plea agreement.

Banks said that if Taylor, who is now in federal custody in Kentucky, had been convicted in court instead of voluntarily pleading guilty, “he most certainly would have faced life in prison.”

Taylor served as executive director of the Jared Foundation, Fogle’s charity to combat childhood obesity. But a report revealed that the organization did not pay out a single grant for that purpose and that 60 percent of its expenses from 2009 to 2013 went to Taylor’s salary.

Fogle this week sued Taylor and his wife, Angela Taylor, in a loan repayment dispute. Fogle claimed he is still owed most of the $191,000 he loaned Taylor to buy an Indianapolis house. That home is where Taylor made some of the child porn, according to prosecutors.

Banks tells PEOPLE that Taylor has transferred ownership of the property to his wife, Angela Taylor, who also is named in the suit.

“My client does not believe he was limited in transferring the property to his wife,” Banks tells PEOPLE. “My understanding is she is the current property owner he no longer has ownership interest in it.”

Taylor and Fogle are no longer friends, Banks said.

A sentencing date for Taylor has not yet been set. Fogle is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19.

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