Centralia to hold public safety meeting

Centralia city leaders will meet on Monday to discuss public safety.

This comes after federal prosecutors charged a Centralia police officer with trying to have sexual contact with a minor using the internet.

Clint Baer, 41, of Centralia is accused of communicating with an FBI agent posing as the mother of a 14-year-old girl using a social networking site called FetLife, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. attorney for Missouri’s Eastern District.

Baer was fired from the Centralia Police Department on Tuesday. He had worked for the department since 2017.

The meeting agenda from the city’s website shows the General Government and Public Safety Committee and the board of aldermen will discuss public safety and the police department, as well as other departments. Baer’s position on the department is not an item on the agenda.

The state is asking that Baer be detained until his trial, but his attorneys are asking for a bond to be set.

Baer appeared in court on Thursday and is expected to be in court again on Friday.

KMIZ 2019