A minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas was taken into custody on Thursday in a sex sting operation. According to the authorities, the minister drove for almost three hours to Bryan, Texas, where he was supposed to meet a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he wanted to have sex with.
Joe Barron, 52, has been under police surveillance for about two weeks, after police uncovered that the minister’s Internet conversations were mostly of a sexual nature. The senior minister, who has been with the church for about three years now, has never display inappropriate behavior, neighbors and people attending the church told reporters.
According to police reports, Baron initiated the idea to meet the 13-year-old girl in person, never suspecting for one second that the “girl” was actually an undercover officer. Following his arrest, police found condoms and a web camera in his vehicle. Furthermore, police officers also searched his home, where they seized a desktop computer, two laptops, and several computer disks and memory cards.
Barron was released on bond on Friday night. Although shocked, church officials are cooperating with the police in this investigation, the authorities said. The community is simply upset with the news, and Barron’s neighbors don’t know how to react. In an interview with CBS, one neighbor said Barron and his wife looked like a normal couple, and the minister’s behavior has never been suspicious.
The minister is charged with online solicitation of a minor and could receive up to 20 years in prison. Barron is a minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the country, with 26,000 members. He works with married adults.