Odessa Youth Pastor Among Six Arrested in Sting Operation

By Silvio Panta
OA Online
June 9, 2016

http://www.oaoa.com/news/crime_justice/law_enforcement/article_a2f67026-2eaf-11e6-8d6e-4bdfa790ee4c.html

Matthew Holman

A former Odessa youth minister was among the six suspects state and federal authorities arrested in a sting operation last weekend targeting suspected sexual predators who solicited minors online.

Matthew Holman, 35, who directed the youth ministry program at Westwood Baptist Church for the past six months, was arrested on a state charge of second-degree felony online solicitation of a minor younger than 15.

Holman’s name, along with the names of two other Odessa residents, was disclosed Thursday during a press conference by the Texas Department of Public Safety in Midland. Fabian Ray Galindo, 20, and Chad Alan Potts, 46, were also among the six suspects arrested on the online solicitation charge for which they were all booked in Midland County Jail.

Holman, Galindo and Potts were all being held Thursday at the Midland County Jail on $75,000 bond.

On Sunday, the church severed its ties with Holman, who helmed the church’s youth program as a paid youth pastor that consisted of about a dozen first graders through high school seniors, Westwood Baptist Church Pastor Weeks DuBose said. The pastor added that there was never any indication, nor any complaint by a parent, that any of the children in the church were harmed or preyed upon.

DuBose said he has been pastor at Westwood Baptist Church for the past 26 years and has know Holman since he was 9.

Some of the church’s active 62 congregants were surprised by the news, which DuBose said was difficult to discuss publicly.

“It is with great sadness that we have to address this issue,” DuBose said in a prepared statement where he told of Holman’s dismissal from the church as youth minister, a position he occupied since mid-January. “The privileges of church membership were withdrawn from Matthew as well.”

“The church has been in existence for 62 years and to my knowledge we have not had to deal with this issue before,” DuBose continued. “We are a family at Westwood and we are dealing with this as a family in an attempt to promote healing. I ask the public to respect this.”

DPS Trooper Justin Baker said the sting operation involved police officers posing as minors younger than 15 years old, who authorities said were solicited by the six suspects. The three other suspects arrested were Jeremiah Jordan Easley, 27, of Midland, James Shannon Dyche, 41, of Grandfalls, and Lyle Joseph Heinzman, 23, of Midland.

The investigation was part of a joint effort by the Odessa Police Department, the FBI, and the Midland County District Attorney’s Office, and other agencies, that sought to identify and catch anyone suspected of soliciting minors online, the DPS said.

“The DPS is committed to working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to identify, pursue and prosecute these dangerous predators,” DPS Commander Carey Matthews said in a prepared statement. “We are proud to have participated in this important investigation that was key in putting these suspects behind bars and helping protect Texans from becoming their victims.”

DuBose said Thursday that he and other church staff members first learned from Holman’s family on Saturday about the charges for which he was arrested.

The probable cause affidavits for all six suspects stated in very general terms the nature of the crime for which they are accused of committing. Holman was arrested Friday by a DPS agent, the affidavit reported, but it was not specified where or when the suspected solicitation occurred.

Contact: spanta@oaoa.com