HARRISBURG, PA \u2014 An Allegheny County man has been sentenced to 12\u00be to 25\u00bd years in state prison after pleading guilty to attempting to arrange sexual contact with someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover Pennsylvania Attorney General\u2019s Office agent.<\/p>\n
Lane Alan Simpson, 42, of Pitcairn, must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life under the sentence imposed this week by an Allegheny County judge, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.<\/p>\n
Simpson pleaded guilty to felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, criminal attempt to commit rape of a child and related offenses following an investigation by the Attorney General\u2019s Child Predator Section.<\/p>\n
According to prosecutors, Simpson communicated online with an undercover agent posing as a 12-year-old girl and arranged to meet the purported child for sexual activity in exchange for money.<\/p>\n
Investigators said Simpson traveled to the agreed-upon meeting location, where authorities took him into custody.<\/p>\n
At the time of his arrest, Simpson possessed the agreed-upon cash payment, condoms and candy that investigators had told him the purported child would like, according to the Attorney General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
The investigation involved no actual child victim in the online exchange, as Simpson had been communicating with a law enforcement agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis defendant \u2014 a man in his 40s \u2014 had every intention of meeting up with a pre-teen child for the purpose of sexual contact,\u201d Sunday stated.<\/p>\n
Sunday characterized the prison sentence as a measure intended to protect children from sexual exploitation.<\/p>\n
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Angela Raver.<\/p>\n