US man Sean Price guilty of luring Aussie girl to New York after meeting on Snapchat for sex

AN AMERICAN child predator has been convicted in a New York court of luring a 16-year-old Australian girl to the US “to satisfy his own sordid desires”.

Sean Price, 39, faces life in prison after a Brooklyn jury found him guilty on four counts, including attempted sexual exploitation of a child and foreign transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Price began an online relationship with the girl, who lived in Australia, in 2016 and by January 2017, they were communicating daily on Facebook.

Prosecutors said much of the discussion involved Price’s desire to engage in sex with the girl despite knowing her age, and finding a way for her to travel to New York without authorities or her parents finding out.

“So you coming to papa?” Price wrote in one message.

Price and the girl discussed getting a fake passport, he offered to pose as her father to get her through airport security in the US, and in another chat message said “they would soon be laughing at her parents”.

After months of planning, Price wired the girl $US900 for the plane ticket.

She landed in Los Angeles in March where Price was waiting for her.

They drove 4500km across the US in a rental car to New York.

NYPD officers raided Price’s mother’s home in Queens four weeks later and recovered the girl and returned her to Australia.

Price admitted in a post-arrest statement he engaged in sexual activity with the girl during their cross-country trip and while they were living in Queens.

“Price lured a teenage girl across the globe to satisfy his own sordid desires, taking advantage of her youth and preying on her vulnerability,” US Homeland Security Investigations special agent-in-charge Angel Melendez said.

US authorities thanked the NSW Police Force and Australian Federal Police for their assistance in the investigation.