Published: Fri, May 16, 2008 - 3:15 pm
Last Updated: Fri, May 16, 2008 - 3:17 pm
A minister from a mega-church in Plano, Texas is facing charges of online solicitation of sex with a minor after being arrested in Bryan, Texas early Thursday (5/15).Short URL: http://wkrg.com/a/13998/
Police say 52-year-old Joe Barron thought he had been chatting online with a 13-year-old girl, when in reality it was a police officer posing as a young girl.
Barron serves as a minister at the 26-thousand member Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. He is not the church's main pastor, but he has counseled married couples and was planning to lead a mission trip to Bogota, Colombia in August. The church has at least 20 ministers on staff.
Undercover officers arranged the meeting at a pre-determined location in Bryan on Thursday morning. Barron was arrested after driving more than three hours to the location. Officers searched his vehicle and turned up condoms and a digital camera they say Barron planned to give the girl.
Sgt. Shane Bush: "Asked him what his initial thoughts were and he said, shame, guilt, grief. Those were some of his words."
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In some cases, background checks would not help. Some of the serial killers have been able to score highly on the mental evaluations. Sometimes the skeleton doesn’t come out of the closet for years. I hope this skeleton is hung out to dry for a very long time.