B.C. man pleads guilty in U.S. court to seeking sex with 12-year-old girl

SEATTLE – A former youth soccer coach from British Columbia has pleaded guilty in a Seattle court to seeking sex with a girl he believed was 12 years old.

U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says 47-year-old Kuldip Mahal of Surrey responded to an Internet post in January 2015, believing he was communicating with a girl who was actually an undercover agent.

Hayes says Mahal sent multiple sexually explicit photos and messages to the agent and asked if could she send him photos, too, even after the agent claimed she was 12.

Hayes says that in February 2015, Mahal crossed the border and drove to a park in Burlington, Wash., where he expected to meet the girl for sex but was arrested.

Under the plea agreement, the defence and prosecutors will recommend a sentence of between six and a half years and nine years in prison.

Mahal was a volunteer soccer coach with an under-16 team and worked as a facilities manager for a Vancouver technology firm.