A Lexington man was arrested Friday in Somerset after allegedly arranging to meet someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones says 48-year-old Jose Omar Preza Sanchez had engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with a juvenile decoy since September 21st. Investigators say Sanchez was told multiple times that the person was 14.
According to the sheriff’s office, Sanchez rented a room at a Somerset motel Friday morning. Detectives, deputies and federal immigration officers arrested him a short time later at a nearby store. A seven-year-old child had traveled with Sanchez from Lexington.
Sanchez was taken to the Pulaski County Detention Center and charged with attempted first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor involving an illegal sex act, and first-offense distribution of obscene matter to minors. The sheriff’s office says a federal immigration detainer was also placed on him.