Pastor arrested in internet sex sting

ORDWAY — A church pastor has been arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual assault on a child after he allegedly tried to arrange a meeting over the Internet with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.

Lucky Jerome Ashida, 44, pastor of River of Life Fellowship, was arrested Monday and released the next day on $50,000 bail, Pueblo County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Bryant said.

An arrest affidavit says Pueblo police Detective Daniel Anderson posed as a girl while communicating with Ashida in an online chat room.

The affidavit says that after a series of increasingly sexual chat room exchanges, Ashida and the person he thought was the young girl agreed to meet at a park on Aug. 30. Police said they secretly videotaped Ashida looking for the girl there.

The detective, again posing as a girl, then told Ashida through the chat room she had grown tired of waiting for him and returned to school, police said. They arranged a second meeting at the same park for Monday, and Ashida was arrested after he arrived, the affidavit says.

Ashida did not immediately return a telephone message left Wednesday at the church.