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Posted AT 4:41 PM EDT ON 25/10/06

Man tells border patrol “I'm here to seduce a teenager”
Associated Press

Spokane, Wash. — A man who told Canadian border agents he was visiting Canada to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he met over the Internet has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Michael Simonson, 51, of Tekoa south of Spokane, Wash., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley after pleading guilty on Tuesday to one count of travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and one count of attempted enticement of a minor.

Mr. Simonson was arrested after being turned back by Canadian Customs officials at the Blaine port of entry April 15, 2005, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said Wednesday.

A passenger on a Greyhound bus, Mr. Simonson told Canadian Customs agents he was on his way to meet a 15-year-old girl that he had met on the Internet for sex.

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Police later found the girl, a runaway, was waiting for him at the Greyhound Bus Station in Vancouver.

The girl told the RCMP that she was there to meet a man named Michael Simonson and have sex with him as they had discussed on-line, in text messages, and by mail.

Mr. Simonson's credit card number had been used to rent a motel room for the girl in Squamish, B.C., Mr. Rice said.

When he was arrested, Mr. Simonson was carrying condoms and Viagra tablets, a digital camera, “love letters” from the girl and a bottle of vodka, federal prosecutors alleged.

A warrant search of Mr. Simonson's computer showed extensive research into Canada's age of consent and Internet child luring laws, Mr. Rice said.

Mr. Rice said the age of consent for sexual activity is 14 in British Columbia, but Mr. Simonson lives in the United State and was charged under this country's laws.

Mr. Simonson, a forester who worked for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in Idaho, had deleted electronic files from his work e-mail after his arrest, Mr. Rice said.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Simonson asked a supervisor to “erase” the contents of the computer's hard drive before turning it over to tribal authorities, who turned it over to federal agents. The supervisor declined.

After release from federal prison, Mr. Simonson will be under court supervision for another 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender, Mr. Rice said.