An Australian geneticist pleaded guilty on July 20 to traveling to Los Angeles to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 6-year-old boy.

Michael Quinn, 33, of Melbourne, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge John F. Walter, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 3.

“Mr. Quinn traveled to the United States to have sex with a young child,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Fortunately, law enforcement was able to ensure that no child was put in harm’s way and that Mr. Quinn would face severe consequences for his conduct.”

Quinn was arrested on May 21 by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) when he arrived at a Los Angeles-area hotel. Quinn was about to pay to have sex with a boy, according to authorities.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in May after undercover agents met Quinn on a social networking website that caters to individuals with sexual interest in children. Quinn admitted during the hearing that he told undercover agents he was traveling to Los Angeles for sex.

Quinn agreed to pay a human trafficker $250 to provide him with a young boy with whom he could engage in illicit acts. Once Quinn arrived in Los Angeles, he was arrested after paying an undercover agent $260.

“As this case makes clear, Homeland Security Investigations is using all of the tools and resources at its disposal to combat the sexual exploitation of children by pedophiles who’re trolling the internet searching for victims,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. “Pedophiles in the United States, or anywhere in the world, who believe they can escape the detection of law enforcement by traveling to another county to commit heinous crimes against children should be on notice. Cyberspace and international borders will not be barriers to bringing you to justice.”

Quinn will face a federal prison sentence of 10 to 13 years.

The case was investigated as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. For information visit www.justice.gov/psc.