Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A father has been arrested by French cops after he tried to set up an encounter with a 12-year-old girl he met online unaware he was really talking to a police officer.

The arrest took place in Colomiers in the Haute-Garonne department near Toulouse on Tuesday 25th February but news of the arrest has only just been released now.

Police say the man, who was not named but who is 56 years old, was arrested after setting up an encounter with the underage girl over the Internet.

Local media quoted police sources said: “He thought he was meeting a 12-year-old girl. Cyber cops trained in tracking online paedophilia were actually behind the fake profile.”

The man had been chatting on the Internet with the alleged girl since September, before offering to meet her.

The alleged paedo offered to meet her in Colomiers, near Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) on Tuesday 25th February when he was arrested.

Local media said that after his arrest, a search of his home was carried out and “Photos of more than a hundred naked minors aged 11 years were found on his phone.”

The man has appeared in court in Toulouse and he was released on bail until his trial in March.

In that time he will be under judicial supervision, and has also been ordered to undergo counselling and therapy to tackle his suspected paedophilia.

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