Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon speaks about the unveiling of new legislation against child pornography
Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon speaks about the unveiling of new legislation against child pornography at a news conference in Ottawa, December 5, 2002. The legislation will protect teens from sexual exploitation and make voyeurism a crime. REUTERS/Jim Young

A 47-year-old Canadian man allegedly travelled to the United States for having sex with a boy whom he thought to be underage. If convicted, he is expected to face a lengthy prison sentence.

Montreal man Rene Roberge is charged for enticing a minor. In addition, he is also charged for travelling to the U.S.A with intent to get engaged in illicit sexual activities. If Roberge is proven guilty of the charges against him, he may have to spend at least 10 years in jail. In addition to the mandatory prison sentence, he may also face life sentence for the offence. Roberge appeared in court for the first time in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Local10 reported.

The criminal complaint against Roberge says that he had travelled to Fort Lauderdale from Quebec on Nov. 9. He earlier sent a message to an undercover agent of Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The agent posed as a 14-year-old boy on a social networking website. The agent pretended to have been interested in having sex. According to prosecutors, Roberge had hotel reservations in Pompano Beach. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents confirmed that they had discovered child pornography on his iPad. Additionally, there were condoms, gifts and lubricant in his bags. Roberge reportedly confessed that his intention for travelling to the United States was to have sex with someone whom he believed to be a teenager.

A 20-year-old Canadian earlier faced multiple charges in October that included the possession of child pornography. He was also charged for abduction, sexual assault, sexual interference and luring girls online. According to Canadian police, the Russell man was arrested by the RCMP over a couple of individual investigations. The man was reportedly involved in luring under-16 girl over the Internet for sexual purposes. According to the RCMP news release on Thursday, the girls were lured on various social networks. The man was arrested twice during the last couple of weeks. He was first arrested by Russell RCMP on Oct 4 and then by Virden RCMP on Oct 9.

Roberge, presently jailed without bail, did not have any attorney recorded for him yet. He works for the French-language TVA network as a TV editor, CBC News reported. Roberge is going to have his bail hearing on Friday, Nov. 14.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au