A 36-year-old man is in custody on luring and kidnapping charges following an investigation into online chats he had with a student, police said.

Buckeye police, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested Brendan Barnett July 10 on the charges, according to a release from the Buckeye Police Department.

Buckeye police were contacted on April 12 when school district officials reported possible inappropriate chats between Barnett, who was a Verrado Middle School teacher at the time, and a 12-year-old girl.

The chats occurred within the school’s online communications portal, the release stated.

During the investigation, detectives said they learned Barnett “lied to the victim’s parents when inviting her to his central Phoenix home for sleepovers.

“Barnett claimed he was the parent of a Verrado Middle School student who would be attending the sleepovers,” the release stated.

The suspect does not have a daughter at Verrado Middle School and was alone with the victim at his home on at least three occasions, police said.

A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Barnett on one count of luring a minor for sex and three counts of kidnapping. He was arrested Wednesday at a Phoenix library near 15^th Avenue and Montebello.

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