Texas Pastor Poses as Teen Online, Sexually Blackmails Hookups

A pastor in the Texas town of Bryan, a community of 66,000 located about 100 miles from Houston, allegedly claimed to be a 16-year-old boy in an online exchange with another man. Upon meeting up with the man, the pastor reportedly threatened to go to the police--unless the man allowed the pastor to service him orally.

The pastor, 51-year-old Randy Scott, had served as the southeast central Texas town's police chaplain and served as pastor of Bethel Temple Church for two decades, reported local newspaper The Eagle on Aug. 12. Scott resigned from the church on Aug. 11, after being accused of sexually coercing men he had met online.

Scott admitted to authorities that he had claimed to be a teen in email exchanges, saying that he confronted the men who agreed to meet with him. Scott later confessed to pressuring ten men into allowing him to perform sexual acts on them when he threatened them with police involvement.

One man who was the alleged target of this ploy went to the police a day after allowing Scott to service him orally, The Eagle reported. Scott told police that he had met with the man who turned him in, but said that no sexual encounter had taken place.

The article recounted that the revelations, and Scott's resignation, send shockwaves through the church's membership. The church issued a statement reading, "On behalf of Bethel Temple, we express our love, prayers, and support for the Scott family. The ministry and meetings of the church will continue as scheduled. The ongoing ministry and vision of Bethel Temple remains: the work of Jesus Christ."

Court documents recount one version of Scott's meeting with the man who says that he was forced to allow Scott to perform sexual acts on him. "When the person showed up, it was an older man," the court documents say, reported text at the website for local station KBTX. "The man told him that he was the stepfather of the person the victim had been emailing. The subject said that he is protective of his stepson and has set up his stepson's email to forward him all of the emails that they have been exchanging. The victim said that the man told him that he is going to call the Police unless the victim pleasured him sexually."

Scott has been charged with "burglary of a habitation with intent to commit assault." He was arrested Aug. 7, having just arrived home after a trip abroad with his wife, news accounts said.