Seminary student arrested in California en route to Mexico to have sex with child, authorities say
Federal authorities say an Ohio seminary student has been arrested in California on suspicion of intending to travel to Mexico to have sex with a toddler or baby.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that 23-year-old Joel Wright was taken into custody after getting off a plane in San Diego.
Authorities say he 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.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
Wright attends Pontifical College Josephinum, a Roman Catholic college in Columbus. A school spokesman, the Rev. John Allen, told the Columbus Dispatch that the college community was “shocked and saddened” at the “reprehensible” allegations. Wright has been expelled.
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