A Westmoreland County man whose arrest two years ago was aired on Dateline NBC was sentenced Friday in New Jersey to five years in prison.
Todd Lewis, 38, pleaded guilty in March to a felony charge of attempted child endangerment.
Police said that on March 31, 2007, Lewis drove six hours from his Export home on a motorcycle to the seaside town of Mantoloking, N.J., for an expected encounter with a 14-year-old girl he met on the Internet.
When he arrived in New Jersey, Lewis was met with police, television cameras and anchor Chris Hanson of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series.
Hillary Hudson Bryce, a senior assistant prosecutor for Ocean County, N.J., said yesterday that Lewis was one of 28 men charged in the sting operation that was a joint effort between the television show and local law enforcement.
She said men went to the beach house, about an hour's drive north of Atlantic City, from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
"Lewis was the furthest drive," Bryce said.
As part of his sentence, Lewis was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment in a special unit that is part of New Jersey's corrections system.
At the time of his New Jersey arrest, Lewis was on probation in Pennsylvania and listed on the state police Megan's Law directory as a sex offender.
In 2003, Lewis was arrested in Scott Township, Allegheny County, after meeting an underage girl he had first contacted via the Internet, according to court records. On Aug. 17, 2004, he pleaded guilty to one count of statutory sexual assault and was sentenced to 9 to 23 months in jail.
