PELZER, S.C. - Authorities say a South Carolina pastor has been arrested after trying to solicit sex from a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that 44-year-old John David Helmuth of Pelzer has been charged with 10 counts of solicitation of a minor. He is a pastor at Tabernacle of Faith in Piedmont.
Authorities says Helmuth was arrested this week after trying to arrange to meet someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. He had been communicating with an undercover Greenville police officer for more than a month.
Helmuth was being held Thursday at the Greenville County jail on $100,000. It's unclear if he has an attorney.
A telephone message left at the church Thursday was not immediately returned.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Doing that crap on the internet is like asking to get caught, but I don't really expect someone that does this sort of thing to have much sense anyway.
You must be pretty smart, Andy.
Help me Jesus. I got a boner
How do you get a nun pregnant?---dress her up as an alter boy!!!!
praise the lord!
we shall rejoicing bringing in the sheaves
Sick bastard. At least we know that the fires of hell will continue to burn bright.
MAD MAX ( Insert usual description?).
When will these idiots ever learn. Almost weekly there is a story of somebody being busted for trying to solicit a minor on the internet, when in reality they are chatting with a cop. Dumbasses.
It's no suprise at all. You'll find some of the worst scum of the earth in church administration. I'm sure he had a lot of Catholic priests for friends. I'm just waiting to hear his friends come to his defense and talk about what a good person he was, how many souls he had won over, and how much good he had done for the church. All that needs to be said is that he's a low life piece of trash. I hope he shows up on Dateline NBC with Chris Hansen so that his face would be known nation wide.
He'll just make some tearful plea that he's sorry and that the devil made him do it!!
He will receive some minor prison sentence or first time offender consideration, either be put on probation or light prison sentence and returned to the public to do the same or commit a worst crime. The urge to do something like this, in-spite of all the publicity about how law enforcement uses the Internet to find these people, must be so strong that nothing else matters??
The really sad part is that for every one that is caught how many are really meeting up? I doubt the first time these guys do this is the first time. The 20-20 show some of the guys were showing up with beer, etc. Didn't look like it was their first time communicating with a supposed minor, more like first time caught.
Meant doubt they get caught the first time they do it. Scattered this morning.
You would figure by now that people would know better than to solicit a minor online. Of course, you would also expect teachers to learn by now to keep their hands off students but they don't.
I am sure he has apoligized to the congregation and they have forgivren him already. Any bets?
Definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing. What's the old saying, "13 will get you at least 20"! So will 14, 15, 16 and 17. Anything under 13 should get you life.
They do it because 99% of them never get caught. And they are sick animals and that's what they like. Makes you want to puke.