Calif. man guilty in Pa. sex sting

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A California man has been convicted by a federal court jury in Pittsburgh on charges that he traveled to western Pennsylvania intending to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, which turned out to be the Internet identity of a local undercover detective.

Edward Hilts, 68, of Fallbrook, Calif., was arrested in October 2009 when he flew to Pittsburgh after corresponding with an Allegheny County detective posing as the girl.

A jury on Wednesday rejected defense claims that Hilts had been trapped in a “loveless marriage” and was really looking for a long-term relationship.

Hilts had earlier agreed to plead guilty, but instead fled to Canada using an alias before he was arrested in Vancouver in 2011. Federal prosecutors say he tried to contact two other minors for sex while a fugitive. He’ll be sentenced Oct. 8.