GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- A Grand Junction man who planned to enroll as a criminology student at Mesa State University told a jury he wasn't trying to lure an underage girl, just help another man live out a fantasy.

John Laure Merritt, 26, faces four felony charges of attempting to lure an investigator posting as a 14-year-old girl in an Internet chat room.

Merritt testified Thursday that he thought he was actually talking to another man who was acting out a fantasy of being a 14-year-old girl, according to a report in the Grand Junction Sentinel.

He told the jury that he was in a chat room that requires users to be adults.

Merritt faces life in prison, if convicted on all counts.

Prosecutors said that after the girl said she was 14, he repeatedly initiated conversations about sex and sent her several pornographic images.

Merritt testified that he didn't think investigators could look for Internet predators in adults-only chat rooms.

Final arguments were scheduled Friday.