Los Angeles: An Australian scientist who travelled to California to have sex with a six-year-old boy was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison by a US federal judge.
Michael Quinn, 33, a geneticist from Melbourne, was arrested in May by federal agents after his arrival at a Los Angeles area hotel where he had arranged to “buy” the child for sex.
“This defendant appeared to be a successful, well-liked professional — but he had a secret, online life in which he made clear his sexual interest in children,” prosecutor Eileen Decker said in a statement.
“This defendant thought he had arranged to rape a young child, but the vigilance of law enforcement spared any potential victims from being sexual abused.”
According to court records, Quinn came to the attention of federal agents in May after he contacted a social networking website that caters to individuals with a sexual interest in children.
Unaware that he was talking with undercover agents, he said he was traveling to the United States to meet with “other pervs” as well as “a dad who shares his young ones.”
He was arrested after he paid an agent posing as a pimp charged him $260 to have sex with a six-year-old child.
He pleaded guilty in the case in July.
