Updated at 7:25 p.m.

A southern Oregon mayor said Wednesday that he's sworn off social media after his arrest on accusations that he solicited sex with a 14-year-old girl on Facebook who actually was an adult undercover police officer.

Kenneth Barrett, 71, said he resigned as mayor of Winston and has deleted his Facebook account.

"I believe that I'm a victim of entrapment," Barrett told The Oregonian/OregonLive during a phone conversation. "I've been forced out of office. I've lost all my friends and this has all been really devastating for me."

He claimed his arrest was "all based on innuendo and a 14-year-old young woman who doesn't even exist."

Barrett denied that he was seeking sex with a child, and said he hoped that the charges would be dropped.

"It was a stupid thing I did, but I'm a curious person," Barrett said. "I can tell you that if I were really out trying to find someone to have intimate relations with, it wouldn't have been with a kid."

Barrett was released Tuesday from the Douglas County Jail after being arrested Sunday on suspicion of second-degree online sexual corruption and unlawful possession of a firearm.

City manager Mark Bauer said he urged Barrett to resign. Barrett was elected to a two-year term and took office in January.

"I told him that I thought it was in his best interest and the city's best interest if he resigned from his position," Bauer said. "And then he wrote up a letter."

A probable cause affidavit said Barrett spent two weeks exchanging Facebook messages with a male Myrtle Creek police officer he thought was an underage girl. Barrett was one of four men arrested since February in the online sting targeting adults soliciting sex with children.

Barrett mentioned several times in the online messages that he was mayor of Winston, talked about sex and described himself as "71 with the mind of a 17-year-old and the energy of a 12-year-old," the affidavit said.

He was arrested when he showed up to a designated meeting spot in Myrtle Creek.

Barrett said he moved to Winston a year and a half ago from Newport Beach, California, and retired after 15 years as an Amtrak ticket agent. He said he's glad to no longer be mayor of Winston, a town of about 5,400 people south of Roseburg in Douglas County.

He claimed he was smoking a cigar and eating Chinese food at his home with his wife in celebration.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey