Carmichael Pastor Among Suspects in Prostitution Sting

KCRA
June 13, 2014

http://www.kcra.com/news/carmichael-pastor-among-suspects-in-prostitution-sting/26471986#!YZode

The pastor of a Carmichael church was one of 24 people arrested in a prostitution sting, officials said Thursday.

The undercover operation was conducted by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department along Watt Avenue.

Deputies said 50-year-old John Oselsky was arrested at the intersection of Watt and Myrtle avenues Wednesday.

Oselsky is the senior pastor at the Grace Family Church in Carmichael.

Friends and members of his congregation arrived to church Thursday frustrated by Oselsky's arrest.

"He is 100 percent innocent -- he is a godly man," one member of the church told KCRA 3. "I know him very well and whatever happened up there is not true."

In the sting, 23 adults and one minor were arrested on prostitution-related charges. Three others face other criminal charges tied to things such as outstanding warrants, deputies said.

"We're doing our best to work with the DA's office to actually start prosecuting these people -- and this isn't just a misdemeanor crime," said Lisa Bowman, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department. "It's something that isn't being dropped. It's something that's being taken seriously."