A Tucson man police accused of using the Internet and to set up a sexual rendezvous with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl was arrested today.

The arrest came after he went to a midtown area to meet the teen and was greeted instead by Tucson police and FBI agents.

The girl he had been allegedly talking to in a chat room turned out to be a police detective assigned to Internet child sex stings.

Arrested Friday was Nicholas C. Tsianos, 22, of the 100 block of West University Boulevard, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson police spokesman.

Tsianos was booked into the Pima County Jail on charges of luring a minor for sexual exploitation and attempted child molestation, Hopffer said, adding the latter charge was in connection with agreeing to meet the supposed child for sex.

Tsianos was arrested after he showed up at a prearranged spot near West Grant and North Silverbell roads, Hopffer said.

Local criminal justice Web sites show Tsianos has no criminal record in Arizona, served no prison time here and is not listed as a known sex offender in Arizona.

He listed no occupation when booked into jail, a jail records clerk said.

The detectives and FBI agents conducting the investigation are part of the FBI’s Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement, or S.A.F.E., team.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Local. Tags for this post: Crime/Safety, David L. Teibel, Local-Crime/Safety, page-a02. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.