Louisiana TV Anchor Cleared of Child Solicitation Allegations

Each of Louisiana's largest cities has a television station that serves that community. In larger cities such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, Alexandria, Monroe, and Lake Charles there are multiple television outlets that serve not only the information needs of those communities but they provide a free source of entertainment as well.

As someone who has worked closely with news organizations for almost 50 years I can tell the goal of a news gatherer is to report the story and not to "become the story". However, there are times when those of us who are on the radio or the television find ourselves on what we could consider to be the "opposite side" of the microphone or the camera in the case of television.

Often when a newsperson becomes part of a news story that story takes on an entirely different angle than if the subject of the story was lesser known to the general public. A media outlet with one of its own under fire has to take special precautions to ensure it delivers the story to its audience without bias or prejudice.

One such station in Louisiana that has had to walk that fine line in recent weeks is KTBS Television in Shreveport, Louisiana. Bill Lunn, a former news anchor and news directory for that station found himself at the center of some very heinous charges in May of this year.

According to Shreveport Police Lunn was investigated on allegations of computer-aided solicitation of a minor. Those who brought the allegations to Shreveport Police say Lunn interacted with a fake internet profile that was created to catch those who would commit sexual crimes against underage children.

Lunn was implicated after he allegedly responded to a message sent via the fake profile that resulted in him, Lunn, being assaulted. The Shreveport police became involved when Lunn called in the assault report.

Based on information reported in the Shreveport media Lunn was assaulted by the three men who created the fake profile. Officers investigated evidence provided by the three men, they also investigated evidence provided by Lunn.

At the conclusion of their investigation Shreveport Police determined that there was not sufficient evidence to proceed with the case. A statement from SPD suggested that evidence presented to them at the time of the investigation may have been altered or tampered with.

The result of the investigation clears Bill Lunn of any wrongdoing in this case. It is unclear if charges will be brought against the three men who allegedly created the fake internet profile and were alleged to have assaulted Lunn in May of this year.

As a result of the investigation, Lunn resigned from his position with KTBS TV on June 3rd. This is a developing story. Check back for further updates.