SHREVEPORT, La. – Former KTBS News Director Bill Lunn will not be arrested or prosecuted following an investigation by Shreveport police, who said there is no evidence of improper communication between him and a juvenile. Instead, a forensic investigation of Lunn’s phone indicates text messages sent to him had been altered.
Lunn thought he was communicating with an adult female; however, the texts came from a man pretending to be an underage female, Shreveport police PIO Cpl. Chris Bordelon said. “Mr.
Lunn did not do anything that was criminal in nature and his intentions were not to do anything criminal. ..
. Our detectives determined it was completely believable that Mr. Lunn did believe he was talking to a possible 19-year-old adult female,” Bordelon said.
Caddo Parish District Attorney James Stewart said SPD sent those text messages to him to review, along with a statement saying Lunn was not being arrested. Stewart told KTBS no charges are pending against Lunn now or in the near future. As for the text messages, those have been retained for possible use in a separate but similar case.
Two of the three men involved in texting Lunn are awaiting prosecution for allegedly doing the same with another man. Stewart will determine if Lunn’s texts are relevant to their case. Attorney Dhu Thompson released the following statement on Lunn's behalf: “I am relieved that the actual investigation brought out the truth of our position, which is that Mr.
Lunn did not commit ANY crime whatsoever. We will explore and seek all available legal avenues to hold the real perpetrators of this setup accountable.” “I am very disappointed regarding some reporters in the news industry that rushed to produce a salacious but otherwise inaccurate story, and make heroes out of the actual fraud perpetrators.
Rather than wait for the actual facts to come out, there was a complete rush to judgment by some in the news industry and the community. I hope anyone who participated in this rush to judgment, whether as an official news reporter, community gossiper or social media keyboard warrior, realizes that this approach is both foolish and wrong.” Lunn resigned from KTBS on June 3 after Shreveport police began an investigation into possible inappropriate communication with a juvenile.
It was sparked by an incident at a house in southwest Shreveport on May 29. Lunn called police and reported he was the victim of an assault and battery and there was an attempted theft of his truck at a house on Chaparral Lane. But officers who responded discovered three men at the house admitted to conducting their own sting operation they said was meant to catch those who prey on young females.
They accused Lunn of sending inappropriate text messages and photos to what he thought was an underage teenage girl. Lunn was detained but not arrested. His cell phone was seized and subsequently searched by SPD and the crime lab.
It was clear, Bordelon said, texts originating from the three men were changed. Lunn initiated contact with a woman who said she was 19 on her social media app. Later, the messages between the two were edited to make it appear Lunn knew he was talking to a 16-year-old female.
Bordelon believes the edited text messages were an intentional act because the men recognized Lunn as a news anchor. They did not ask Lunn for money, Bordelon said. After the incident, Lunn issued a statement through his attorney denying any wrongdoing.
Two weeks later, two of the three men who had confronted Lunn were arrested – after confronting another man they considered to be a pedophile. Kataurio Grigsby, 20, and Antonio Coleman, 20, are charged with second-degree battery after allegedly assaulting the man, who required medical treatment for his injuries. Grigsby and Coleman are among a group of young adults in Shreveport who reportedly consider themselves vigilantes on a mission to expose suspected child predators.
In a record filed last week in Caddo District Court, Coleman told the officer who arrested him that he and Grigsby went to a house on Glenleaf Road to meet with a “pedophile” who thought he was meeting a 15-year-old male. “(Coleman) stated he and Kataurio are known for ‘catching predators,’” the police report states. The two told police the man they met pushed one of them so Coleman pushed back.
They alleged the man ran away, tripped and fell. Officers received a contradictory statement from the victim, who through an interpreter told police Coleman and Grigsby came to his house with an offer to sell drugs. But when he declined, they began to fight him.
He said the two men punched him in the head, causing him to fall to the ground where he was kicked. The victim said he temporarily lost consciousness. He was ultimately treated at a hospital for injuries, including a dislocated shoulder.
A neighbor told officers he heard the victim yelling for help and went outside to see a man, later identified as Coleman, kicking the victim while he was on the ground. Coleman and Grigsby told the responding officer they called police; however, a call did not show up on dispatch records, according to the police report. Both also alleged they had been given the OK “to do this” by a detective.
The two also told police they had similar interactions five other times and were told by a sex crimes detective what they were doing was OK. The detective they identified was contacted, and she said she did not tell them to do that and instead told them not to. Grigsby will be arraigned in Caddo District Court on Aug.
27, while Coleman's next court date is Oct. 3..
