Police: Former pastor propositioned 13-year-old for sex in online sting

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida former pastor is accused of propositioning someone he thought was 13-year-old girl for sex online, not knowing it was actually a detective on the other side of the keyboard.

Officials said they posted an ad on Craigslist and an undercover detective “posed as a young girl online who had posted an ad to meet up.”

Investigators said Richard Logsdon, 52, responded. Records show Logsdon continued the conversation after a detective told him he was a 13-year-old girl.

Police say Logsdon asked the girl for nude photos, sex and other requests too explicit to publish.

The online sex sting occurred in 2018, around the same time that Logsdon stopped working as an associate pastor at a church in Tampa.

He was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of using a computer to seduce/solicit a child.

The church told Channel 9 Logsdon was never alone with children, and that leaders were shocked when they learned about his recent arrest.

Channel 9 also learned Logsdon was on probation after serving 13 years in prison for second-degree murder.

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