This March 20, 2018, file photo shows the YouTube app on an iPad.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

CARO, MI — A Bay City man and former chaplain charged with two felonies after a YouTube vigilante published a video of him trying to meet up with what he thought was a minor has accepted a plea deal.

Jeffery L. Bader, 50, in late July appeared in Tuscola County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to one count of accosting a minor for immoral purposes. The charge is a four-year felony.

In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a seven-year felony charge of using a computer to commit a crime.

As a condition of his plea, Bader must register as a sex offender.

The charge stems from a video posted on YouTube on Feb. 1, 2020. The nearly 13-minute video shows an exchange of messages and chats between a person posing as a 14-year-old boy and another account.

The video goes on to show its creator meet with Bader during daytime hours in the parking lot of the Dow Bay Area Family YMCA at 225 S. Washington Ave. in Bay City. The video creator slides into the back seat of Bader’s vehicle and tells him he’s recording as they converse for several minutes.

The same YouTube account posted two similar videos in subsequent days. They showed transcripts of chat logs followed by footage of adult men arriving at agreed-upon sites in Bay City, seemingly expecting to meet a juvenile, and being confronted by the video-maker, akin to the popular Dateline TV segment “To Catch a Predator.”

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene previously said the video itself started an investigation by Caro police. Police also executed search warrants and seized several items, Reene said.

Though the alleged meeting occurred in Bay City, the exchange of messages or solicitation occurred in Tuscola County, Reene has said. Bader lived in Caro at the time, though he now resides in Bay City.

Bader previously worked as chaplain and activities director for Lighthouse Neurological Rehabilitation Center in Caro. He also was known in the Cass City area for a longtime affiliation with the Youth For Christ organization as a Campus Life director for the Cass City and Kingston areas. He also served as a youth camp counselor and as a youth leader for Christian clubs organized in area school districts, according to The Cass City Chronicle.

Tuscola County Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart is to sentence Bader on Sept. 20.

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