Ohio Man Jailed After Sex Sting Arrest

By JOHN McCARTHY, AP
Thu Nov 1, 2:04 PM EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio —
A former children's services lawyer was in jail Thursday, a day after authorities allege he went to the Ohio Statehouse to meet someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had met online.

Hamilton Township detective Lt. Jeff Braley had posed as the girl and arranged the meeting. Barry Mentser was arrested in the Statehouse basement minutes after Braley testified two floors above in favor of a bill that would increase penalties for sexual offenders who prey upon underage children through the Internet.

"I said, 'I'm in Columbus.' He said, 'I'll meet you anywhere,'" Braley said. He said he didn't arrange the sting at the Statehouse to draw attention to the bill or his testimony, but that he knew the man was in the Columbus area and that police were aware of his identity.

Defense attorney Steve Palmer said Thursday he expected Mentser, 48, would enter a not guilty plea.

"He had no prior record whatsoever, criminal or otherwise, and this sort of came out of left field," Palmer told WCMH-TV.

His client remained in the Franklin County jail Thursday afternoon, hours after a judge set bond at $50,000. Mentser was scheduled to return to court Nov. 9 for a preliminary hearing.

Undercover Columbus police officers spotted Mentser in the Statehouse cafeteria, where Braley had set up the meeting, said city police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner. A security video later made available by Statehouse officials showed a man identified as Mentser walking from one side of the basement to the other, then back across, toward the cafeteria.

The Statehouse is a popular stop for school field trips, but there were none scheduled Wednesday, and the building had few visitors besides people attending legislative sessions and hearings, said Statehouse spokesman Gregg Dodd.

Mentser, of nearby Gahanna, is married with three children, The Columbus Dispatch reported. He was charged with importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Weiner said. If convicted he could face from one year to two and a half years in jail.

Braley testified before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee in favor of a bill that would set mandatory sentences of one to five years for importuning by telecommunications. A prison sentence is not mandatory under current law.

Many judges say sexual acts typically don't occur in stings, so they take a "no harm, no foul" stance and sentence offenders to just weeks in jail and probation, Warren County prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said after testifying before the committee.

Mentser, now in private practice, was a staff attorney for Franklin County Children's Services from 1987 to 1990, when he resigned, agency spokeswoman Kay Marshall said. He had no direct contact with children outside of court while employed there and no complaints were filed with the agency about him, Marshall said.

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