BROOME COUNTY MAN INDICTED IN ONLINE SEX CASE.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: Associated Press -

SYRACUSE -- A federal grand jury has indicted a Broome County man charged with driving to Illinois to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he met through the Internet.

The U.S. Attorney in Syracuse said 33-year-old Ronald Smith of Binghamton was also charged with possession of child pornography and persuading another person to try to conceal evidence of his relationship with the teenage girl.

Smith was charged on Sept. 10 in Riverside, Ill., a Chicago suburb, and has been held since in an Illinois jail. He was accused of setting up a rendezvous in a parking lot with a girl he met through the Internet, although either the girl or her parents notified authorities.

He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.