BRIAN KINSLEY

A Wheeling Island man was arrested by Moundsville police this week, accused of trying to solicit a minor for sex.

According to Moundsville Police Chief Tom Mitchell, Brian Michael Kinsley, 47, of Wheeling was arrested on felony charges of soliciting a minor via computer and soliciting a minor and traveling to engage a minor in prohibited sexual activity.

Kinsley pleaded not guilty Wednesday to both charges in Marshall County Magistrate Court. He was being held in Northern Regional Jail on $500,000 bond as of Thursday afternoon. His next preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 8 before Marshall County Magistrate Thomas Wood.

Moundsville Police Department Chief Tom Mitchell said the arrest is the result of a call to a local hotel on Tuesday where a group known as the Predator Poachers called police to report Kinsley was at the hotel to allegedly have sex with a juvenile girl. The group provided what they deemed as evidence of the man’s online interactions and conversation regarding a minor.

Police arrested Kinsley after interviewing him and he was taken to the Northern Regional Jail.