He's also the guy who was arrested by Ak-Chin police last week for allegedly doing some creative writing of his own, which he sent, along with pictures of his penis, to a "14-year-old" girl he met on Craigslist.
Turns out, the girl was actually a cop.
According to an arrest report obtained by New Times, Verbout, 49, sent the penis pics and some dirty chats to the 14-year-old/cops from the office of the Casa Grande Dispatch.
Verbout posted a not-so-discreet ad on Craigslist titled "Young Ladies, wanna fuck an OLDER GUY who knows what he's doing?" according to the report.
The cop replied saying, I'm 14, and yes.
Verbout exchanged some dirty emails with the "14-year-old," with Verbout providing error-free copy -- save a few extra exclamation points.
Verbout reportedly had a "load all ready" and told the girl he wanted to "shoot" said load "all over that lovely face of yours," according to the report.
There's way more explicit stuff in the police report, but we'll leave that to the imagination.
Somewhere in this conversation, Verbout also sent "multiple pictures of his genitalia," the report states.
Verbout was arrested Friday in Maricopa, and was booked into the Pinal County Jail. He faces three counts of aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation, and one count of luring a minor for exploitation, according to his booking sheet.
Verbout was released on $50,000 bond.
Donovan Kramer Jr., the co-publisher for Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, tells New Times Verbout's suspended.
"He's officially suspended and using vacation time," Kramer says in an email. "Future status unknown now."
Verbout worked from 1991 to 2007 as a copy editor for New Times.
He responded with an "um, no" when we reached him by phone today and offered him a chance to talk about his arrest.
"I would not want to comment on that right now," he said.
