JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 30-year-old Jefferson City man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for trying to set up a meeting with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl for illicit sex.

Jeremy Ryan Bappert pleaded guilty in October to attempted sex trafficking of a child as the result of an undercover investigation. He was sentenced on Thursday in Jefferson City.

Bappert admitted sending a text message asking a confidential informant to find a young girl around 9 to 11 years old. A police detective assumed the role of a woman named Julie who had a 12-year-old daughter Bappert could meet.

Investigators arrested Baffert on July 5th, 2013 when he went to a restaurant in Columbia to meet the girl.