A Walt Disney World employee has been arrested for allegedly trying to set up a sexual encounter with an 8-year-old girl.
Authorities arrested Frederick M. Pohl, 40, on Tuesday and charged him with transferring obscene materials to a minor and attempting to entice a minor, according to a release by the Department of Justice.
If convicted, Pohl could face life in federal prison.
Authorities say he engaged in a series of online chats as he sought to arrange the sexual rendezvous. According to the criminal complaint, Pohl believed he was chatting with the child and her father. In reality, he was actually talking with an undercover federal agent.
After sending explicit photos of himself to the agent, Pohl went to a hotel in Orlando, Florida, expecting to meet the child. He was arrested upon arrival and authorities said he was carrying condoms and a child-sized pink dress.
WTSP-TV reports that Pohl was employed at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World. One of his duties was to help secure lap bars on guests going on rides.
HuffPost reached out to Walt Disney World, which did not immediately respond.
Department of Homeland Security investigators told the station Pohl had been investigated in 2007 for “attempted exploitation of minor children.”
Pohl is not the first park employee to be accused of inappropriate sexual activity with children. Rodger Catey, a Walt Disney World employee who worked in the costume department, was one of 11 people arrested last June in a child porn sting that resulted in at least 660 felony charges being filed, according to the Daily Beast.
In 2014, an investigation revealed at least 35 Disney employees in and around Florida had been arrested and accused of sex crimes involving children since 2006.
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