Former Beijing Expat at Center of Foster Care Drama Arrested for Child Pornography in US

Former Beijing expat Ray Wigdal, an American who in 2014 was embroiled in a scandal when one of the disabled Chinese orphans he was illegally fostering died under mysterious circumstances, was arrested Thursday in his home state of Wisconsin for alleged possession of child pornography, according to a local newspaper report.

Wigdal, 61, was being held without bond on one charge of possession of child pornography at the La Crosse County Jail, the report said. He has no known criminal record in Wisconsin.

He had previously spent over 30 years of his life in Beijing, and from 2002 until 2014 provided foster care to as many as 16 children who had been abandoned at birth due to mental or physical disabilities.

In December 2014, one of the children, an 8-year-old named Phoebe, died after entering the hospital with injuries that some accused Wigdal of inflicting. In an interview with the Beijinger in 2014, Wigdal said that the injuries occurred while he was outside of the country.

He seems to have continued his work with orphaned children via the Mordecai and Esther Foundation, which lists Wigdal as its CEO and purports to do work in Pakistan and Sierra Leone.

Wigdal has been spending the last few months posting a series of videos on YouTube, alternately preaching in Mandarin and railing against the Chinese government. In many of the videos, most of which have fewer than 10 views, he wears a variety of Trump hats. His last post was uploaded on Thursday, seemingly hours before his arrest.

After Phoebe's death in 2014, all of the fostered children were placed in the Chinese foster care system; their current whereabouts are unknown.

Wigdal was never charged with a crime in China, and according to a YouTube video posted in April (in which he discusses issues around adoption in China with a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal), he had a valid visa for China up until last October.

Wigdal was a polarizing figure in Beijing. A familiar face around the city's expat communities centered in Lido and Shunyi, he spent much of his time with the kids in public places such as Pinnacle Plaza and the Lido Hotel. Residents of the downtown Qijayuan Diplomatic Compound said he would often bring the children to the playgrounds and fields there as well.

Some praised his selflessness and missionary zeal in caring for and arranging corrective surgeries for children who fell through the cracks of the Chinese system. Others claim he was an irresponsible and abusive caretaker for the orphaned children.

“This is probably a ‘good guy gone bad'; something happened along the way," one person who knew Wigdal told the Beijinger in 2014. "Deep inside I hope he is a nice guy looking after ten children out of love and compassion," she said, but in the end seeing the condition of the children was enough to compel her to contact authorities about the case.

Wigdal never appeared to have a formal job while in China and claims to have paid for his and the children's cost of living entirely with donations.

READ: Throwback Thursday: The Disturbing Story of a Rogue Expat Criminal Doctor in Beijing

Images: Mike Wester, YouTube, rayschildren.org