A San Pedro man is expected to plead guilty Monday to a federal charge of attempting to persuade a boy under the age of 18 to have sex with him.
Edward Anthony Contes, 36, was charged last year in Los Angeles federal court of traveling to Mexico for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minor boys, use of the internet in an attempt to entice a minor to engage in prostitution, and attempted sex trafficking of two boys in the Los Angeles area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Contes was arrested in June after allegedly traveling to Tijuana weeks earlier and making contact on the internet with a person he thought was a child sex trafficker, but who in fact was an undercover law enforcement agent, according to federal prosecutors.
In addition to seeking a boy in Mexico, Contes allegedly made arrangements with the undercover agent to pay to have sex with a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old at a hotel in Long Beach, court documents show.