NEWARK — When a 66-year-old child predator was seeking victims, he attempted to use the internet to find parents willing to let him use their children.

What Richard Bly of Dracut Massachusetts did not realize is that, according to Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick, one of the exchanges he was having online was with an undercover officer rather than the mother of an 8-year-old girl he thought he was talking to.

During the exchange, Bly believed he was making arrangements with the mother to meet her and her daughter at a Hotel in Ramsey, according to Fitzpatrick. Bly was instead greeted by law enforcement and he was arrested, Fitzpatrick said.

Bly has been charged with one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

If convicted, Dracut faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender David Holman Esq.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com

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