A 56-year-old man, who is also a grandfather, was arrested last week by the Newton County sheriff’s deputies for electronic furnishing of obscene material, computer pornography and sexual exploitation of a child.

Although Timothy Copeland Lunsford was arrested in Newton County, he is a resident of Troy, Ala.

He was arrested because of the fine investigative work of our sheriff’s department.

 Lunsford thought he had been communicating online with a 13-year-old girl for the past year, but in fact, he was talking to a deputy.

 According to the sheriff’s department, Lunsford had no previous record.

 There is nothing worse than to destroy the trust and faith of a child; if Lunsford had had his way he would have violated this trust and innocence.

We hope he receives the strongest punishment possible under the law. We are told God forgives anyone that is sincere in asking for forgiveness. In dealing with people like Lunsford, we can only imagine God has to gulp twice before he forgives.

 This is a lesson for parents; please know what your child is viewing and doing on the Internet. There are controls you can put on your computer to help monitor your child’s use.

 Parents and grandparents do not let your guard down — there are more people like Timothy Lunsford around than you can even imagine. Please be observant and vigilant.

 We applaud the good job that Newton County Sheriff’s Department did in stopping this man before he accomplished his mission.