ST. LOUIS – A Maryland Heights, Missouri man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal sex crime after admitting having sexual contact with a teen girl he’d met online.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Daniel Todd, 33, told the court he communicated with a 15-year-old on social media between October 2021 and February 2022.

As part of the plea, Todd admitted he lied to the girl by telling her he was 24. He was actually 32 at the time. They arranged to meet and Todd picked the girl up from her home in St. Charles County on Dec. 4, 2021. Todd brought the girl back to his home and committed statutory sodomy.

In text messages afterward, Todd told the girl the sexual contact between them is “technically rape and I could be arrested.”

Todd was questioned by law enforcement on April 5, 2022, and he denied having any sexual contact with the teen. When presented with their online messages, Todd confessed to having sexual contact with the girl, knowing it was illegal.

Todd pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

Both prosecutors and Todd’s lawyer agreed to ask for a 10-year prison sentence, followed by lifetime parole. Todd will be sentenced on Feb. 9, 2023.