Director Buckeye sent sexual messages to undercover agent posing as 12-year-old girl

BUCKEYE, AZ (AZFamily) — New court documents reveal that a Buckeye executive is accused of sending sexual messages to an undercover officer posing as a young girl.

The investigation began on July 22, when an undercover Oregon police officer posed as a 12-year-old girl on the anonymous social media app Whisper. According to court documents, the officer posted messages on the app and began receiving messages from 42-year-old Joseph Kinney, the principal of Buckeye Union High School.

Kinney allegedly told the victim to “get comfortable in her bed and take her clothes off.” The officer then told Kinney she was 12 years old, to which Kinney responded, “I don’t care about your age,” according to court documents. The two continued chatting, with Kinney telling her he lived in California and “would love to come rescue her, and they would have a good time,” police said.

Kinney’s comments then turned sexual, and the officer reiterated that she was only 12 years old. According to court documents, Kinney then asked the girl for nude photos, but she refused.

The conversation continued into the next day when Kinney told the girl he was working. The girl asked if he had a good job, and then the conversation ended, according to court documents.

Authorities tracked Kinney’s IP address and traced it to his home in Goodyear. Police in the area stopped him at Elliot Road and San Miguel Road, and he was arrested Tuesday.

In an interview with police, he admitted to using the Whisper app and said he “liked that it was fantasy-like and anonymous,” according to court documents. He admitted to talking to multiple girls on Whisper who claimed to be underage. However, Kinney claimed he never actually believed they were underage and that he believed they were “adults having fantasy chats and role-playing games,” according to detectives.

Kinney allegedly told authorities that he remembered a girl telling him she was 9 years old, but said he assumed she was an adult because her photo didn’t look like a 9-year-old girl. He also admitted to having a sexual conversation with a 12-year-old, but thought it was “just role-playing and fantasy conversations,” according to court papers.

According to police, he denied having a sexual attraction to children and claimed he “would never engage in sexual activity with a child.” He admitted he felt “stupid and ashamed of his decisions,” court documents state.

Kinney was terminated after Buckeye Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Steve Bebee said officials learned detectives were investigating Kinney for “a personal matter unrelated to his work for the school or the district.”

Kristin Kok, assistant principal at Buckeye Union High School, will oversee the principal’s duties. “Our focus is on ensuring that our students have access to an excellent educational experience,” Bebee said.

Kinney was arrested for luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

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