A Michigan professor faces a federal criminal charge after traveling 1,300 miles for what he allegedly thought would be a sexual encounter with a teenage boy.
James Cavalcoli, 51, is an assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics at the University of Michigan. He was arrested in a sting operation at a spa in Weston, Florida, on Friday.
Cavalcoli allegedly thought he'd arranged to meet with a Broward County man who was willing to let him have sex with his 14-year-old son. According to the Sun-Sentinel, a South Florida newspaper, the man was actually a Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer who works with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force.
The officer allegedly made contact with Cavalcoli in late 2013 through a website where users discussed child pornography and sex with young boys. The undercover officer said Cavalcoli described himself as a "boy lover." The officer allegedly told Cavalcoli that he had a teenage son.
They remained in contact over a period of 20 months, during which Cavalcoli allegedly sent the officer sexually explicit photos, police said.
James Cavalcoli faces federal criminal charges after allegedly arranging to have sex with a minor.
In July, Cavalcoli allegedly told the officer that he was going to be traveling to Central Florida, and asked if the man and his son would want to "meet up for fun." The officer agreed as long as Cavalcoli promised to use condoms and that there would be "no pain."
The day before the sting occurred, Cavalcoli allegedly emailed the officer, asking for reassurance that law enforcement wasn't involved. He allegedly said he wanted to meet the father before he met the son.
Police say that Cavalcoli confessed when officers showed up at the spa on Friday.
Police confiscated several devices from Cavalcoli, including a laptop, according to WXYZ. The electronics will undergo forensic examination.
A University of Michigan spokeswoman told the station that Cavalcoli had worked there for 13 years, and that the institution intends to cooperate fully with investigators.
"It's very shocking and unsettling for me personally," student Aaron Seth Tooley told WXYZ. "If he's doing that to a 12-year-old [sic] then the undergrad population especially... here wouldn't feel safe."
As of Tuesday afternoon, Cavalcoli's profile on the university's website appeared to have been removed.
Cavalcoli faces a federal charge of traveling to have illicit sex with a minor. He is due in court for a bond hearing on Friday.
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