An Ash Flat man has been charged after authorities say he attempted to arrange a sexual encounter online with a minor female, U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge announced Monday.
Donald Lamoureaux, 68, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith on Monday about a complaint that he had purportedly arranged to a sexual encounter with a four-year-old girl, Eldridge said in a news release.
An undercover Fort Smith police officer posed as a mother who was offering her four year-old daughter for sexual exploitation and made contact with Lamoureaux in an online chat room, Eldridge said.
Lamoureaux is charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor for sexual purposes, which carries a punishment of not more than 20 years imprisonment, not more than $250,000.00 fine, or both, the release states.
Lamoureaux told the undercover officer he was a family physician in northeast Arkansas, and public records show he practiced in Horseshoe Bend and Dexter, Mo., and was employed at a veteran's affairs medical facility in West Plains, Mo., according to Eldridge.
Police arrested Lamoureaux on Friday in West Plains where he had arranged to meet the mother and child, Eldridge said.
Lamoureaux had deposited $300 into a bank account he asked the undercover officer to set up for expenses to transport the child, according to Eldridge.