CT man allegedly arranged to meet up with a 15-year-old girl. Instead, he found police waiting to arrest him

A man was arrested in Meriden Wednesday when he arrived for a meetup with a 15-year-old girl he met online who turned out to be an undercover police detective.

A man was arrested in Meriden Wednesday when he arrived for a meetup with a 15-year-old girl he met online who turned out to be an undercover detective, police said.

Christopher Smith, 44, faces charges of criminal attempt to commit second-degree sexual assault, criminal attempt to commit risk of injury to a minor and criminal attempt to commit enticing a minor by computer, according to the Meriden Police Department.

Meriden police said the department’s Special Crimes Unit began an undercover operation in October involving a detective who purported to be a 15-year-old girl on an online chat application. The detective was contacted by Smith who began engaging in conversations that turned sexual, which included him expressing sexual acts he wished to engage in with who he believed was a teenager, according to police.

Believing the detective was a young girl, Smith arranged an in-person meetup on Wednesday in Meriden where he was met by officers who took him into custody, according to police.

He was held on a $500,000 bond and was expected to be arraigned in Meriden Superior Court on Thursday.

“The Meriden Police Department Detective Division would like to thank members of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce and Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Federal Bureau of Investigation Task Force who worked together with our organization to successfully conduct this investigation,” Meriden police wrote in a statement Wednesday.

“We at the Meriden Police Department are wholeheartedly committed to protecting children,” police continued. “We understand the impact of these crimes and we work with partner agencies to help provide services to the affected victims and their families. It is the policy of the Meriden Police Department to fully investigate every allegation of crimes against children that is brought to our organization.”