A senior pastor at a Cedar Rapids church was one of nine men arrested Friday in a prostitution sting.
Rev. Jonathan L. Offt, 41, of Cedar Rapids, the senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, was the first person arrested in the operation conducted by the Marion Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, police said. All of the men responded to an advertisement on a website and arranged to meet an undercover female officer who was posing as a prostitute.
Marion police Sgt. Lance Miller said Offt arrived at the meeting place and was arrested when he offered money in exchange for a sex act. Officers in tactical gear performed the arrests.
“After that, he was pretty sullen,” Miller said.
TVNL Comment: I would love to have a penny for every religious leader/clergy member who gets involved in sex scandals I would be rich.