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Baptist Minister Snared In Central Texas Internet Sex Sting
A Baptist minister is among those snared in a Central Texas sting that targeted online sexual predators.
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38 Comments 
(May 16, 2008)—A minister who counseled adults at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano is among those snared in a sting in Bryan that targeted online sexual predators.
Police say Joe Barron, 53, drove more than three hours from Plano to Bryan to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl he had met over the Internet.
The girl was actually a Bryan police officer.
A Bryan police statement says the online conversations with the minister were sexually explicit in nature.
The statement says officers asked Barron on May 6 for an
in-person rendezvous in Bryan, where Barron was arrested.
Inside his car alongside a hymnal, officers found a box of condoms and a Web camera, which police say they think was intended as a present for the teenage girl Barron expected to meet.
Mike Buster, the executive pastor of the 20,000-member church, issued a statement Friday in which he said, “We are disturbed and saddened by the reports we have heard and we are praying for the Barron family. We are fully cooperating with the police in their investigation.”
Barron’s bond was set at $7,000.
He’s the 12th person Bryan police have arrested for online solicitation of minors since 2006.
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Latest Comments
Men/Women in leadership roles at church can and should only be in the pulpit if they are called by God only. If they are just filling a position they need to step down. I agree totally with Craig and Cliff. I pray that people do not turn their backs on God because of a fallen individual. People will let you down, preachers can let you down, that is why you need to know the Word of God for yourself. Satan knows the bible as well as God. Why do you think that Satan knows how to lure people in? Why do you think that their is so much sin? Because Satan makes it fun. Just because you are a Christian doesn't make you perfect and untouchable by Satan, just the opposite, that is who Satan targets to make them fall so unbelievers can say "I told you so". You are judged by God as an individual not by the preacher. Only by the saving grace of Jesus Christ will you enter in the gates of Heaven. Don't follow man follow Jesus Christ.
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Churches are dins of sin, just like everywhere else. They just act pious and holy while they sin. At least us heathens are honest about it.
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Have you seen Dateline "To Catch A Preditor"? It isn't just misinters getting tied up in sin, it is military, business men, teachers, coaches, scout leaders, librarians, politicians, officers, medical personel, and people from all walks of life. You might as well become a recluse and never leave home so you don't worry about being around sick weirdos that do horrible stuff because our society is filled with that type of person. I'm not going to condone what that man was intending to do, he was wrong and should be punished, and I'm glad he was caught before he made a victim of a young child, but be warned that there are more out there, and they aren't just in our churches! My husband and father are both preachers and have never done such a thing, so don't condemn them with the cluster! "If a hypocrite stands between you and God, that hypocrite is closer to God than you are!" Sure church isn't required for salvation, but don't condemn all churches for the sins of a few.
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