Seminary student made prior attempts to obtain baby

OHIO
WTOV

BY JULIA KRAMER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH 2016

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Details on the past of a seminary student who was arrested earlier this week on child sex charges have come to light.

Joel Wright, 23, was apprehended in San Diego, CA after he was tracked by a Homeland Security investigations team. He was allegedly on his way Mexico to “rent” a 3-year-old female child for sexual assault purposes.

Wright is being charged by federal prosecutors with felony counts of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

A police report shows that Wright may have begun his search for a child in May of last year, right here in Steubenville.

Last spring, a call was made to the Steubenville police department concerning a post found on Facebook and Craigslist. The report says Wright, a former Franciscan University student, was looking to pay $150 to babysit a child.

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