Man Arrested In On-Line Sex Sting

A man expecting to embrace a 13-year-old girl he met through a computer online service and courted via cyberspace for four months instead walked into the arms of undercover detectives.

James Barrows, 55, of Madison, Conn., was charged with promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, obscenity and giving indecent material to a minor.

“This case should serve as fair warning to adults who would prey upon children that they will pay a heavy price for such conduct in this jurisdiction,” District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said Tuesday.

Barrows drove about 100 miles from his central Connecticut home Monday, prepared to meet what he believed was a 13-year-old Brooklyn girl he courted via America Online, investigators said.

But the girl turned out to be waiting detectives.