Counselor Pleads Guilty to Illegal Use of Internet

A Canadian man who worked as a youth counselor at a Glendale church pleaded guilty in federal court to using the Internet and telephone conversations to discuss having unlawful sex with law enforcement agents he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.

Edwin Saleh, 43, of Toronto, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of using the Internet to attempt to induce a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of possession of child pornography.

Saleh was being monitored by authorities in early December after he began communicating with MeganM, the computer name investigators used to pose as the teenage girl, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Cheryl Murphy.

Saleh agreed to meet on Dec. 7 with MeganM at a park in Santa Monica, where he was arrested by FBI agents, Murphy said.

A search of Saleh’s temporary residence in Reseda, where he was staying with relatives, uncovered computer diskettes containing 30 pornographic pictures of minors, Murphy said.

Saleh, who arrived late last year to work as a counselor at the Church of the Living Hope on La Crescenta Avenue, was released on $300,000 bail and is under home detention, Murphy said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 6 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, Murphy said.

Saleh’s father, Fred Saleh, is the founder of the Acts 13 Christian Ministries, a Canadian religious organization that promotes the establishment of churches in North America and Europe, Murphy said. The Church of the Living Hope is affiliated with Acts 13 Christian Ministries. Calls to both establishments were not returned Tuesday.