Rev. Philip Haltom, 52, who is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, was among those charged. Haltom did not attend the weekly services, and his future role in the church was unclear.The rendezvous were set to take place in St. Charles, NBC5's Charlie Wojciechowski reported. Six men, who thought they were meeting prostitutes, instead met up with an undercover St. Charles police officer."The six suspects were responding to that ad, and actually solicited an undercover female officer while they were responding to the ad," said Paul McCurtain, a spokesman for the St. Charles Police Department. "Arrangements were then made to meet them at various locations within our city, at which time they were taken into custody without incident."
Haltom was scheduled to be in court with the other five suspects on May 22, with all facing single counts of criminal sexual solicitation, Wojciechowski reported.Haltom was recruited as Trinity's Pastor three years ago from another church in Missouri. No one at the 125-member church returned NBC5's calls, and Haltom himself was unavailable for comment. Church officials will meet with Haltom in the next few weeks, Wojciechowski reported.St. Charles police said Haltom and five others responded to a message on craigslist.com offering massage services, then solicited the officer for sex acts by phone and e-mail.McCurtain said St. Charles police plan to continue similar prostitution stings."What we want to do is to be proactive and discourage that type of activity within our city," he said.
Talking about sex and dating with your kids can be uncomfortable but it is absolutely necessary. Get tips on how to approach these difficult subjects. More
