HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against a 40-year-old Allegheny County man who believed he was soliciting online sexual contact from a 12-year-old girl.
An Office of Attorney General agent posing as the “child’s” mother communicated with Lane Alan Simpson, who agreed to pay a cash sum to have the contact.
Simpson was recently charged with felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, criminal attempt to commit rape of a child, and related offenses.
Simpson, of Pitcairn, was arraigned and denied bail, as the presiding magisterial district judge deemed him a “threat to the community.”
Simpson agreed to pay cash for sexual acts with the “child,” and went to an agreed-upon location to meet with the “child,” where he was taken into custody.
“This defendant had every intention of sexually abusing a pre-teenage child, and I commend the investigators for proactive efforts that removed this predator from the street,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Our Child Predator Section is constantly working to identify predators who lurk in the shadows online.”
At the location, Simpson had the agreed-upon cash payment, condoms, and candy (which Simpson was told the “child” would like).
The case will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Angela Raver. Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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