![Air Force Sergeant arrested after trying to meet 14-year-old girl for sex](https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_2366071673.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all)
An active-duty U.S. airman in Delaware has been arrested after trying to meet and have sex with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl, officials said Tuesday. Armand Nicholas Lu, a technical sergeant assigned to the Dover Air Force Base, was arrested Tuesday and , David Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said in a news release. According to law enforcement officials, the 36-year-old airman began communicating via text message with a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, thinking he was chatting with an underage girl he had met on a popular dating app. The two texted each other “over the course of several weeks,” officials said. During that time, he “expressed interest in meeting and having sex” with the individual, even acknowledging he could go to
prison if he were caught. He ultimately arranged to meet the “girl” on April 2, while her “mother” was at work. He also told her he had purchased “some intimate stuff from Walmart,” such as condoms, lubricant and honey, according to the criminal complaint. “[Let me know] when your mom leaves the house,” Lu said in a text message before their scheduled meeting time. He also said told the “girl” he was and asked for a pair of her used underwear. Lu was arrested Monday after arriving at the pre-determined location. He was charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. After searching his home, investigators found “condoms, an unopened bottle of lubricant, and a bottle of honey” in his bedroom. He faces a maximum period of life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum term of 10 years behind bars.