The Bremerton Police Special Operations Group arrested a 49-year-old Kitsap County man Wednesday, July 1 on charges of criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree child rape.

Bremerton Police began the investigation June 24 when a woman contacted police about a man who told her he wanted to find a 10- to 14-year-old girl to have sex with, according to Bremerton Police. The man told the woman he was willing to pay her and the parent of the girl.

The woman continued to talk to the man about a fictitious 11-year-old girl and then contacted police.

Detectives arranged for the woman to continue talking to the man and several conservations were monitored by authorities. The man described specific sex acts he wanted to engage in with the girl and said he could provide prescription medication “to ease the girl’s pain and anxiety,” according to Bremerton Police. The man also wanted to set up a meeting where the parent and/or woman he’d been talking to would have sexual contact with the girl to assure him police were not involved.

The man and woman then arranged a “meet and greet” with the girl. He said he was willing to pay her $100 and the parent $100 if he could have sex with the girl, according to Bremerton Police.

The meeting was set for the evening of July 1 at a Bremerton convenience store. Police observed the man leaving his home and then took him into custody in the store parking lot were the meeting was to take place.

The man admitted to detectives he had conversations with the woman about having sex with a young girl and he did have prescription medication in his home. He told detectives he did not plan to go through with any sex acts at that time, but did not know what he would do in a month.

The man admitted he also contacted people in Tacoma about finding a young girl, but this was the first time he set up a meeting with a girl.

The man said he has been sexually interested in children since 1996 and has searched for child pornography on the Internet. Detectives seized the man’s home computer and hundreds of DVDs, which will be analyzed at a later time, according to Bremerton Police.

The man was booked into Kitsap County Jail on criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy charges. Bail was set at $500,000 and he is scheduled to make a court appearance this afternoon.

The man has no known criminal history in Kitsap County.