DENVER -- A 68-year-old Seattle man was arrested Thursday after police said he traveled from Washington state to have sex with a 6-year-old girl.

Parker Police Chief David King said the investigation began last January when a detective was contacted in an Internet Relay Chat room by a man who steered the conversation toward sex.

King said the detective mentioned she had a 6-year-old daughter and the man said he would be willing to come to Colorado to have sex with the girl.

The detective and the man, identified by Parker police as Gary Lee Waffle, continued to have Internet conversations over the next four months. Police said Waffle later told the detective, who was posing as a mother, that he would be traveling to Denver on Thursday.

Police set up a sting at a Parker restaurant and placed a hidden recording device on the police detective posing at the fictional girl's mother.

Police said Waffle discussed how he was excited to meet the 6-year-old and have sex with her. He was then arrested.

Waffled was charged with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, aggravated sexual abuse with children and attempted coercion and enticement.

Federal officials said Waffle faces up to 30 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine in connection with the first two charges. He faces up to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both, on the third charge.

The case was investigated jointly by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Parker Police Department. The Parker Police Department is a member of the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is funded by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

"This case shows how important it is for law enforcement agencies to work together to identify, arrest and prosecute brazen predators who would travel across state lines to have sex with a small child," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Denver.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 12,800 individuals. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hot line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.