A married Louisiana TV anchor has abruptly quit his job after he was accused of sexting with someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl. But, when he set up a meet with the teen, “she” turned out to be a trio of vigilante “predator hunters,” according to reports.
Bill Lunn, 59, who was news director and a key on-air face at KTBS in Shreveport, arranged the meetup at his home during lunchtime on May 29, the vigilantes told NBC6 News. When three men arrived, he called the cops — and claimed the men beat him up and tried to steal his truck.
However, the amateur sleuths — Antonio Coleman, Kameron Kennon and Kataurio Grigsby — waited for the cops and told their side of the story.
They handed over what they said was a trove of evidence that proved Lunn’s pervy behavior.
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“You could see the guilt in his eyes. He knew like, ‘Oh, I’m done,’” Coleman told the station.
Bill Lunn, 59, resigned as anchor and news director of the KTBS station on Monday after police started probing claims he’d been sexting an underage girl. Facebook / Bill Lunn
The trio, who describe themselves as “predator hunters,” said they’d created a fake profile on dating app Meet Me and had been posing as the teen for several weeks in a bid to “catfish” local men who were trying to meet underage girls for sex.
They claimed Lunn started engaging with the so-called teen late on May 28 — the night before he allegedly made arrangements to meet.
“They had a little conversation going on, and he asked how old she was. The girl told him she was 15 years old,” Coleman, who claimed he was pretending to be the teen, told NBC 6.
The TV anchor’s alleged plan to meet the girl was foiled when Lunn found himself face to face with three men who claimed to be conducting their own pedophile sting operation. Facebook / Bill Lunn
“He was like sending pictures to her. He was saying like he wanted to do this to her,” he continued. “Explicit things that I can’t say on camera.”
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When the news anchor arrived at his home for the meetup, Coleman said, he quickly fled after the trio alerted him to the sting operation.
“As Bill was running off, he yells, ‘I have a wife and kids,’” Grigsby said.
“I’m sitting there as he’s running off, like in my head, ‘How can you say that when you literally walked yourself in the house expecting to meet an underage teenager?’”
Lunn, a married father, has “vehemently” denied the allegations leveled against him, his lawyer told The Post. Facebook / Bill Lunn
Lunn’s attorney, Dhu Thompson, told The Post on Wednesday that the newsman “vehemently denies” the allegations leveled against him.
“It is our preliminary understanding that this incident was not the result of a law enforcement investigation, but rather one done by private individuals,” Thompson said in a statement.
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“Our primary concern at this time is that law enforcement receives all evidence surrounding this incident so that they can make a thorough and complete review. Mr. Lunn has cooperated with authorities and vehemently denies any allegations of wrongdoing.
Bill Lunn was allegedly caught by “predator hunters” posing as a 15-year-old girl. Facebook / Bill Lunn
“It is our hope that after a thorough review of all the evidence surrounding this matter that Mr. Lunn will be shown to be innocent and cleared of all allegations.”
Lunn started working at KTSB in 2019 and was promoted to news director last August, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The TV station launched an internal investigation immediately after learning of the incident outside his home last week.
“His resignation was effective immediately on Monday,” the outlet said.
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So far, no charges have been brought against Lunn or the men involved in the sting.
The Post reached out to local cops but didn’t hear back immediately.
A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.
Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.
Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.
That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.
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“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”
Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.
The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.
A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.
The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.
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Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.
As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.
State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.
“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.
Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.
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The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.
The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.
Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.
State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.
Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.
Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.
The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.
The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.
Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.
The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.
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Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.
