ONESQUETHAW — A man who serves as a local pastor was arrested at a rest stop on the Northway for public lewdness, a misdemeanor.

State Police arrested Joseph Loux Jr., at 9:55 a.m. on June 7 after Trooper Edward Stannard saw him having “sexual contact” with Eugene F. Barnaby, a 35-year-old marina worker whom he met at the Bolton rest area, said Investigator D.J. Mosher.

A retired preacher who was installed as the part-time minister for the Onesquethaw Reformed Church last June, Loux said at the time of the congregation there, “They have that spiritual gift.”  He added that, while scandal is often hushed up elsewhere, at Onesquethaw, troubles are not hidden away.

“Where there is scandal, that is where ministry needs to be,” he said last June.  “That impresses me. I don’t find that in many churches.”

The rest stop where the pair was found has no buildings, just a few picnic tables, Mosher said.  “A lot of times, the Troopers patrol that area,” he said, since rest areas often attract people exibiting that kind of behavior.  The number of arrests varies, he said, and the most common charge is public lewdness.

“They were honest,” Mosher said of Barnaby and Loux.  “Barnaby said he’s been there in the past,” Mosher said of his familiarity with the stop.  “Joe denied ever being there before.”