Pastor allegedly tried to meet minor for sex — he ran for Congress as a Democrat and was an NAACP leader

A California community is reeling after hearing the news that a local pastor was allegedly caught trying to meet a person he thought was a minor for sex.

James David Stockton, 54, was arrested on Saturday by Signal Hill police after an online citizen group called "Caught Fished" said it had documented inappropriate messages with the pastor.

'He got into the nasty part that no pastor should be talking about.'

Stockton is the pastor at South Bay Church of God in Torrance. He ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2024, and before that he was a leader of the NAACP in Marion County.

The group provided some of the texts to KTTV-TV and said that Stockton knew the decoy was claiming to be 16 years old and in high school.

"What time you get out of school today?" read one text allegedly from Stockton.

"I promise to be gentle and make sure you are enjoying it," read another.

The founder of the citizen group, named Antoine, said it got very explicit at that point.

"He got into the nasty part that no pastor should be talking about," he told KTTV.

Stockton was defeated in his campaign by Rep. Randy Fine (R), who currently holds the office.

The church appears to have scrubbed a webpage indicating Stockton was their pastor, according to a KTTV-TV report.

"We don't know anything, other than what we see on the video," a member of the church said to KTTV. "But it was a shock to us, as everybody else."

RELATED: Texas man pretended to be a minor online in order to track down sex offender and left him dead in a ditch, police say

The pastor was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to a felony count of arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes.

Stockton is due back in court on Dec. 12.

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