A 61-year-old St. Louis man was arrested in Denver after allegedly traveling here to have sex with two minors.
Darwin Gilbert Gowen was arrested Sunday at Denver International Airport by federal authorities, according to a U.S. Attorney news release.
He has a federal court appearance scheduled Wednesday, the release said.
The case involves a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who posed on the Internet as a 37-year-old single mother of two minor daughters, ages 15 and 11, the release said.
The undercover agent communicated online with Gowen, who allegedly arranged to come to Colorado to have sex with the mother and two children, the release said. Investigators were waiting at the airport and Gowen was taken into custody.
If convicted of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, Gowen could be sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.
The undercover agent involved in the case works for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Homeland Security investigators with ICE pursue a wide array of crimes and criminals, including crimes against children.
From May 1 to 31, ICE investigators carried out “Operation Orion,” arresting 181 people suspected of engaging in child pornography.
Most arrests were made in America, but some were executed in Spain, Argentina, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. The operation also identified and rescued 18 victims, according to an ICE media release.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson