A Texas pastor who served less than half of his 25-year sentence for his role in an online child sex ring was set to receive a hero's welcome with a community party after his release. 

Jeremiah Busby, of Houston, pleaded guilty in 2017 after he was caught in an online sex sting in which he believed he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl, asking for [unclothed] photos and arranging to meet her for sex, according to KTRK News.

He already had a lengthy criminal record before his arrest, having previously served time for murder and aggravated robbery in Dallas, as well as a drug conviction. 

But the pastor walked free on Tuesday when he was granted parole after serving just 12 years of his 25-year prison sentence.

Supporters planned a July 4 welcome-home celebration at Set Free Church on Uvalde Road, with social media flyers inviting the community to 'honor' the convicted church leader as he 'continues his journey with Christ.' 

'I'm an advocate for second chances because someone did it for me,' Randy San Miguel, who organized the event, told KTRK News in a recent interview.

San Miguel, who met Busby in prison while serving time for car theft, said the pastor's contact with children would be monitored but stopped short of saying whether he had any concerns. 

Church cancels event amid backlash

'I don't condone it. It's a crime. He got sentenced for it,' he told the outlet.

'How far do you take it? How far do you beat a dead dog? He was paroled, and he met his requirements. How much more?'

News spread like wildfire across social media, with hundreds expressing outrage over the 'audacity' of honoring a man found guilty of online solicitation of a minor. 

'Why is he out walking free??!!!' one comment read.

Another said: 'There is something wrong in celebrating this.'

'Un-FREAKING-believable,' one user added.

The celebration was later called off after church leaders said they had not been aware of Busby's criminal past, adding that the presence of children in the congregation raised serious safety concerns, according to KTRK.

'Recently, an upcoming facility rental came to our attention that, upon closer review, does not align with our church's core values or our strict standards for a secure environment,' the church wrote in a statement shared to Facebook.

'The moment this information came to light, we terminated the rental agreement and issued a full refund,' they added. 'The event will not take place on our campus.'

Leaders explained that the event was booked through a third-party contract and that those behind it had no connection to or prior history with the ministry. 

Inside the 2015 sting

'Moving forward, we are reviewing and tightening our scheduling policies to ensure all outside organizations are thoroughly vetted against our community standards before approval,' the statement read.

'The well-being of our congregation, students, and staff is and always will be our highest priority. We are fully committed to protecting the sacred space we share every week.'

Busby's arrest was first reported in 2015, the same year he founded PhoenX Ministries, which aimed to help former inmates still struggling to stay on the right path, according to The Courier of Montgomery County.

On November 2, 2015, a Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigator was running an undercover operation online, posing as a 14-year-old girl to lure suspected predators. 

During the sting, detectives received several sexual messages from Busby over a five-day period, according to KTRK's previous reporting.

In the messages, Busby asked: 'Are you sexually active?', 'How many guys have you been with?' and 'Do you give oral sex?' 

At the time, he was on parole for drug possession.

'You had someone who was not only attempting to turn their life around, or appeared that way, but who was very active in the community in doing that,' Chief Prosecutor Tyler Dunman said in 2017, according to The Courier.

'It's a very scary thing when you have an individual who you bring into that circle of trust that is still engaging in illegal conduct, especially to the degree that he was by soliciting sex from a 14-year-old,' he added.

Busby among 27 arrested in operation

Busby, who also requested [unclothed] photos from the child, arrived at the meeting location expecting to have sex, where he was ultimately arrested by authorities. 

Dunman is a senior member of the Montgomery County Coalition Against Human Trafficking, a multi-agency group that meets regularly to monitor emerging human trafficking trends and how to combat them. 

He revealed that Busby had attended several of those meetings as part of his ministry, and previously described him in a press release as a 'wolf in sheep's clothing.' 

'What that means to me is that he was not genuine in his decisions or his involvement in actually wanting to turn his life around,' Dunman said.

'His ministry was based on turning lives of other men and women who were in prison around,' he added. 'The idea that he would throw all that away for something like this is a scary thought.'

Busby was arrested in Montgomery County on the charges and had a previous murder conviction from 1997 in Dallas County. He was among 27 arrested in the child-exploitation operation.

'These predators come in all shapes and sizes,' Dunman previously told KTRK. 'He represents the scariest type of sexual predator, the wolf in sheep's clothing.'

The disgraced pastor was ordered to register as a sex offender after his conviction and will remain on parole for around 14 years.