A 40-year-old man from the US has been sentenced to 35 years in prison, after he groomed a 16-year-old girl from Sydney on social media to travel to New York for sex.

Price was found guilty of four charges in December last year, including interstate and foreign enticement to engage in sexual activity, and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.

The Federal Court in Brooklyn heard that Price had started talking to the teen online in spring 2016.

Evidence in the trial showed by January 2017, they spoke daily through messages on Facebook, where Price openly talked about the girl’s age, and his desire for her to travel to the US and to engage in sexual activity with the teenager.

Price preyed on girl’s ‘vulnerability’
Messages showed Price and the girl also discussed her getting a fake passport, with Price offering to impersonate her father to help her through airport security in the United States.

When the teenager told Price she did not need parental permission to fly internationally, he replied: “So you coming to Papa?”

The court heard Price sent $US900 ($1,200) to the teenager to fly to Los Angeles before they drove cross-country to his home in Queens, New York.

– Angelique Lu

Read More: US man jailed for 35 years for grooming 16yo Sydney girl online to travel overseas for sex

Image by Marvin Meyer from Unsplash