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IMPD chaplain facing prostitution charges

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A volunteer chaplain for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has been arrested after police say he admitted to paying a woman for sex.

John Robert Fiers is facing two counts of patronizing a prostitute. He’s also been charged with intimidation.

Back in April, detectives were investigating prostitution through a website called Backpage, court documents note. During that search, police were led to a woman at a Motel 6 in the 8300 block of Bash Street.

According to court documents, the woman admitted to police that she had been prostituting herself through the popular website.

She then told investigators that Fiers had been one of her clients, and that he flashed his badge and told her he’s a chaplain.

In the probable cause, the woman tells investigators that Fiers tells her she can research his background.

“You can look me up and incriminate me now, since you know who I am and what I do,” said the woman as she repeated her conversations with Fiers.

Fiers goes on to tell the woman that he’s looked up her background.

“You can’t incriminate me,” the woman says Fiers told her, “because I can incriminate you.”

The prostitute told police she believed Fiers told her those details so he could control her.

The Motel 6 where the crimes happened has a director of security. John Carenige confronts prostitutes and their visitors.

He takes pictures of suspected vehicles, he jots down license plate numbers, and has police on speed dial.

“I strive hard to catch them,” said Carenige.

24-Hour News 8 called Fiers this afternoon but no one picked up the phone.

According to IMPD, Fiers has been dismissed from his volunteer position after the department learned of his arrest.

Police brought Fiers in for questioning and he admitted he paid the woman for sex. He was arrested and charged with the crimes.