Former Buckeye teacher arrested for kidnapping 12-year-old girl

INDEPENDENT NEWS MEDIA

A 36-year-old man is in custody for luring and kidnapping following an investigation into online chats he had with a student, police said.

According to a Buckeye Police press release, police with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Brendan Barnett on July 10 on these charges.

Buckeye police were contacted on April 12 when school district officials reported possibly inappropriate conversations between Barnett, who was then a teacher at Verrado Middle School, and a 12-year-old girl.

The chats took place via the school’s online communication portal, the press release states.

During the investigation, investigators discovered that Barnett “had lied to the victim’s parents when he invited them to his home in central Phoenix for overnight visits.”

“Barnett claimed he was the parent of a student at Verrado Middle School who would be attending the sleepover parties,” the press release said.

The suspect does not have a daughter who attends Verrado Middle School and was alone with the victim at his home at least three times, police said.

A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Barnett on three counts of sexual solicitation of a minor and three counts of kidnapping. He was arrested Wednesday at a Phoenix library near 15.^th Avenue and Montebello.

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