A Troy man who is a convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty to attempting to coerce and entice a child to engage in sexual acts with him.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 37-year-old Lawrence Belcher admitted that from January through April of this year, he sent sexually explicit messages to a someone he believed was a 12-year-old boy.

Belcher asked the child to meet him in person in order to engage in sexual acts in his car.

Officials says Belcher traveled to Schenectady County on April 14 to meet with the child and have sex with the boy in a motel parking lot.

Belcher was met by law enforcement upon his arrival and arrested. He’s been in custody ever since.

Authorities says Belcher has a prior misdemeanor conviction for sexually abusing a child under 14 years old and was a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest in April.

Belcher is scheduled to be sentenced in Syracuse on November 28.

He faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life

The case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes FBI Special Agents and members of state and local law enforcement agencies.

It's being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Barnett as part of Project Safe Childhood.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE:   This post is for informational purposes and is based largely on information received from the U.S. Attorney's Office]

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