A Washington State man who was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Thursday (Oct. 25) for trying to come to Canada to have sex with a 15-year-old girl was planning to do the deed in Squamish, according to an Associated Press report.
Michael Simonson, 51, of Tekoa, Wash., was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and attempted enticement of a minor.
Simonson was arrested after being turned away from the Canadian border at Blaine, Wash. when he told border guards he was coming to Canada to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he had met on the internet. Simonson had apparently done extensive research on the age of consent in Canada, which is lower than Washington State, but was arrested by American officials.
Police found the 15-year-old, a runaway, waiting to meet him at the Greyhound bus depot in central Vancouver. His credit card had been used to rent a motel room for the girl in Squamish, according to the report.
