A Louisiana TV news anchor has resigned following accusations that he had sexted a girl he thought was underage. Bill Lunn, the director of news and anchor for KTBS, resigned after being accused of sending explicit texts and images to a 15-year-old.
He supposedly made plans to meet the girl but was shocked to discover three men on the other end who claimed to have planned the entire setup as a "predator hunter" plot. An investigation was launched on May 29 after Lunn contacted the police, claiming he had been assaulted in Shreveport. However, officers told KTBS that after interviewing the men, they quickly determined the assault claim was false.
Sexing Underage Girl and Escaping
Antonio Coleman, Kameron Kennon, and Kataurio Grigsby revealed that they had been pretending to be a teenage girl on the dating app Meet Me for weeks to catch suspected pedophiles.
They told the news site Myarklamiss that they were stunned to discover the person they were communicating with was allegedly married father Lunn.
"They had a conversation going on and he asked how old she was," Coleman said. "The girl told him she was 15-years-old. He would send pictures to her, he was saying he wanted to do things to her, explicit things."
They claim the phone number being used matched the one listed on Lunn's LinkedIn profile. "It's crazy how fast they are willing to meet young women," Kennon added.
The trio said they confronted Lunn, who reportedly said he had a wife and kids before fleeing the scene and calling the police.
Officers arrived at the scene, detained him, and then released him without charge.
Trapped at Last
However, his electronics have been seized as part of the investigation. An internal probe has been initiated at his workplace, where he resigned effective Monday. Lunn's attorney, Dhu Thompson, said that his client strongly denies any wrongdoing.
"It is our preliminary understanding that this incident was not the result of a law enforcement investigation, but rather one done by private individuals.
"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.
"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."
This is not Lunn's first encounter with the law. In 2019, he was charged with impaired driving. Although his blood alcohol level was below the legal limit, he was still found to be impaired and was charged via citation.
Lunn joined KTBS in 2019, having previously worked as an anchor with KTSP. During his time there, he had a particularly memorable on-air slip of the tongue.
In a 2013 newscast, while introducing a story about Boy Scouts, he accidentally said, "I pledge allegiance to the fag."
Lunn quickly apologized and took to Twitter to express his regret for the mistake and to assure his followers that he harbors no ill-will toward the LGBTQ+ community, though some followers were upset by his initial laughter over the incident.
His Instagram bio describes him as a "Journalist, author, dad, fisherman, guitar picker" who has been "Saved by Grace."
