Photo: Twitter
It’s now common to question policy views or moral fiber for any elected official. But what if you’re newly elected mayor just got busted for trying to have sex with a 14-year-old?
Winston, Oregon is currently dealing with that reality.
Kenneth Barrett, 71, the newly elected mayor of the small town of 5,300, was arrested Sunday in Myrtle Creek, Oregon after he tried to meet with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. It was actually a decoy — undercover police posing as a young girl — as part of a relatively large sting operation that reeled him in for what sounds like a dramatic arrest.
Chris Hansen … your cue.
Barrett was charged with second-degree online sexual corruption of a minor and unlawful possession and concealment of firearms, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Police reportedly said the investigation is ongoing and even more charges could be filed against the mayor.
According to the affidavit, Barrett spent two weeks sending Facebook messages to the police decoy (aka, the 14-year-old girl), while also commenting “hot” on a photo on the police-created social media page.
Barrett mentions in the online messages several times that he’s mayor of Winston, acknowledges the decoy is 14 and describes himself as “71 with the mind of a 17-year-old and the energy of a 12 year old,” according to a probable cause affidavit…
…..In other messages, according to the affidavit, the mayor said he thought having a 14-year-old girl as a friend was fun, that he loved her, asked if she wanted him to be a “bad boy or a granddad” and requested that she write him sexually explicit poetry….
…The mayor repeatedly talked about sex, expressed excitement that the girl he thought he was corresponding with was a virgin and encouraged her to send him her address because “I am a single old bad boy” and offered to bring pizza and beverages.
They agreed to meet Sunday outside a Myrtle Creek home while the girl’s mother was at work. The mayor again talked about having sex with the girl and asked her to “please keep me out of jail,” the affidavit said.
Reports also say that when Barrett arrived in his pickup, he messaged the decoy, “The bad boy is here,” before police pulled up behind him.
The mayor then told police he was there to meet “a lady” and to buy her pizza.
Mmmhmmm.
Barrett also allegedly told the decoy he was going to get a divorce and tried thinking of several ways they could be together, which included going to “Mars to populate the planet together.”
It should be noted that Barrett won his election back in January by 46 votes. Here’s his opinion column he wrote and posted to social media after being elected.
And here’s a post from the mayor’s Twitter last year; More proof those damn fortune cookies are never right.
Photo: Twitter
Barrett was also just one of three men arrested in this sting operation, mean ranging in age from 18 to 51.
Winston City Manager Mark Bauer reportedly said Barrett’s status as the town’s mayor remains “up in the air,” begging the question, what does one have to do in order to get fired from a mayoral position!?
That’s politics for you: Pranksters Show Lesbian Porn Scene At Polling Station
Josh Helmuth is a contributor for Mandatory and the editor of Crave Sports.
