KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A pastor was arrested in Kissimmee for hiring what he thought was a prostitute, Osceola County officers said.
Investigators say the pastor traveled a long way to break the law. Samuel Conley's church is in Haines City, where he also volunteers for the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
As Conley sat in the Osceola County jail, he didn't want to answer any questions about how he ended up there.
"Do you have anything you want to say for yourself Sam?" WFTV reporter Nancy Alvarez asked.
When he didn't show up at his church in Haines city Friday morning, the pre-school director assumed he was visiting a member of the congregation.
WFTV had to show Janet Hall, Pastor Conley's mug shot for her to believe he had been arrested.
According to the Kissimmee Police Department, the pastor responded to what he thought was a prostitute through an ad on the internet.
Detectives say Conley made a call from his cell phone and arranged to meet the prostitute at an apartment in Kissimmee. Their arrangement: Straight sex for 30 minutes. The price: $60.
According to police, the pastor also told the woman, who was actually an undercover detective, that he would supply the condoms.
"Oh, my mind is just going whew! I have no idea what to think at this point," Hall said.
Photos on the Church of Christ's Facebook page show Conley on a mission trip. The husband, father of five and grandfather of four, has led the church for 14 years.
He also volunteered as a chaplain for the Polk County Sheriff's Office, ministering to inmates.
"He helps anyone no matter what you get into. He's a really good person," Janet Hall said.
"Do you think his congregation will forgive him?" Alvarez asked Hall.
"Yes. They will stand by him. We all love him," she said.
The prostitution stings have caught other religious men before. In Orange County, in February, a volunteer jail Chaplain Ernesto Vega-Revera, was carrying his bible when he was arrested for offering an undercover officer money for sex.