ORLANDO, Fla. - The head baseball coach at St. Petersburg College has been arrested as the result of an underage sex sting.
The Miami Herald reports Robert Francis, 31, logged into a chat room on Tuesday and struck up conversation with someone he thought was a 14-year-old Orlando girl.
Using the name "tpabayrobb," he reportedly acknowledged he was nervous and thought he really might be talking to a cop.
According to authorities, during the conversation Francis flirted with the "girl" and even sent a nude photo of himself.
Detectives say Francis drove to Orlando to meet her for sex with a bottle of wine, a box of condoms, a video camera and peanut M&Ms.
Upon his arrival, he was met by Orange County deputies. According to an arrest report, the cops had been posing as the young girl, and arrested Francis on charges of traveling to meet a minor and transmission of materials to a minor.
An arrest affidavit says that during one of the online chats Francis wrote that he was "just curious" about being with younger girls and repeatedly asked if she was a police officer and wondered if it was a setup. "Lol. This is a hott fantasy," he said during the chat. "Yes. This is gonna be really hott and a lot of fun."
In one secretly taped phone call Francis allegedly told the "girl" that he and his wife had an "agreement."
Francis, a married father of one, admitted many times that he made a mistake, says an arrest report. "He admitted he knew the 'female' was 14 and remembered her screen name."
In a statement Wednesday, St. Petersburg College said the coach was placed on administrative leave and banned from coming on campus or having contact with students or staff.
Francis was being held Wednesday at the Orange County Jail in lieu of a $5,150 bail.
