Man arrested for soliciting teen in police sex sting

Police arrested a 48-year-old man Wednesday after he apparently tried to meet a 13-year-old girl described as a prostitute in an online sex advertisement.

A Seattle police detective had posted that advertisement, and the officer and man had been communicating by e-mail since Monday, police spokesman Jeff Kappel said Thursday. The man sent his phone number Wednesday and asked to talk with the girl on the phone.

A meeting was arranged at a business on Rainier Avenue South. After the man arrived shortly after 10 a.m., detectives confirmed his identity and arrested him.

He was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of rape of a child.

If an adult attempts this crime but does not actually carry it out, it is still considered a felony, Kappel said.

The Seattle P-I typically does not name suspects until prosecutors have filed charges against them.

Last week, police in Colorado arrested a Seattle University associate professor on suspicion of soliciting a minor.

The professor, Andrew Douglas Franz, had met the minor online and thought he was meeting a girl. The girl turned out to be a police officer.

Charges against Franz include enticement of a child, inducement of child prostitution, sexual assault on a child and trafficking in children.