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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- A convicted sex offender out on parole has been arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from a minor in a police Internet sting operation.
A 4th District judge set a $10,000 cash-only bail Monday for Leon N. Lavender, 26, of Roy.
Lavender allegedly contacted a Utah County Sex Crimes Task Force officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl in chat room on Aug. 16.
The man allegedly sought to have different sex acts performed on him.
A meeting was arranged for Saturday at Crossroads Plaza in Salt Lake City, and Lavender was arrested and held on a second-degree felony charge of using the Internet to entice a minor for an unlawful sex act. He also is being kept in the jail on an Adult Probation and Parole hold.
Lavender, who is listed on the Utah Sex Offender Registry, was on parole after serving about a year in a 1996 Ogden case. He originally was charged with rape of a child, but was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of forcible sex abuse.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
