Ohio Seminary Student Accused of Trying to Arrange Sex with Baby in Mexico

Cleveland.com
January 30, 2016

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2016/01/ohio_seminary_student_accused.html

The Pontifical College Josephinum, a Roman Catholic seminary in Columbus, Ohio, is seen in a 2006 file photo. (Nccarter88 via Wikipedia)

An Ohio seminary student was arrested Friday in California on allegations that he intended to travel to Mexico to have sex with a toddler or baby.

Joel A. Wright, 23, of Columbus was taken into custody Friday after getting off a plane at at Lindberg Field in San Diego, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

Wright had written emails to an undercover agent posing as a travel guide that he wanted to adopt or purchase a female child under age 3 in Tijuana, Mexico, for the purposes of having sex with her, authorities said.

Authorities alleged that Wright planned to meet a friend of the tour guide in San Diego, then accompany the guide to Tijuana, where he would go to a hotel and be brought female infants, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.

He's scheduled to be arraigned Monday, and an after-hours call to determine whether he has an attorney wasn't immediately returned. He faces two felony counts: travelling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, and attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations said it began its probe last year after it was tipped off by a person who had a previous encounter with Wright, NBC4i.com reported.

"This investigation opens a window into a secret world where sexual predators prey on young children around the globe," said Dave Shaw, special agent in charge for HSI San Diego, in a statement. "Pedophiles who mistakenly believe they can escape justice by committing child sex crimes outside the U.S. should be on notice that HSI will seek to vindicate the rights of those victims regardless where they live. Fortunately, in this instance, our perseverance and diligence prevented the sexual exploitation of yet another innocent victim."

Wright attends Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. A school spokesman, the Rev. John Allen, tells the Columbus Dispatch they are "shocked and saddened" at the "reprehensible" allegations. Wright has been expelled.