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Va. Man Arrested While Trying To Meet Girl, 14, For Sex

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Point Park University student has traded his college classroom for a jail cell after traveling to Pittsburgh to allegedly have sex with a 14-year-old girl.

According to Attorney General Kathleen Kane's office, Joshua Munoz, 23, of Reston, Va., was arrested on Monday in Pittsburgh.

Munoz allegedly met the girl through a teen chat website on May 31. The two began exchanging private and text messages, where meeting up to engage in sexual activity was discussed.

Undercover agents, posing as the girl, arranged a meeting in Pittsburgh on Monday.

In one conversation, the agent posing as the girl asks if he's bringing condoms, Munoz then says, "Yes I am, LOL, don't worry."

When he arrived at the predetermined in East Deer, he was taken into custody.

Munoz is currently being held in the Allegheny County Jail. He is facing a long list of charges including, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal attempt indecent assault and criminal use of a communication facility.

Munoz is a classical dance major at Point Park.

The Attorney General's Child Predator Unit is on the front lines of a digital and cyber battleground.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony Marmo told KDKA's Kym Gable, because of the resources and manpower allocated to the program, arrests have increased six-fold since 2012. And Western Pennsylvania law enforcement is responsible for about half of all arrest in the entire state.

"There just happens to be a number of folks trying to solicit children online and we've been finding them," said Marmo. "At this point it has been at an alarming rate, there's no question. That's why we're asking parents to be vigilant. Try to check up on what social media apps and programs they're using because you really don't know who they're talking to."

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