A 36-year-old Colchester man pleaded guilty last week to interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Joshua T. Robinson, 36, admitted on Feb. 18 in the U.S. District Court in Providence that he traveled to Cranston, R.I., last year in an attempt to meet and engage in sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl, according to a news release.

Court documents show that, beginning in August last year, Robinson wrote multiple emails to a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl, with each email more sexually explicit than the last.

Robinson requested and arranged to meet with the teenager to engage in sexual activity, the release states, not knowing that members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force were managing the email address.

Members of the task force arrested Robinson on Sept. 4 when he arrived at the location where he allegedly believed he was going to meet the teenager.

Robinson will be sentenced on May 12 and faces up to 30 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release.

In addition to members of the task force, federal, state and local law enforcement agents investigated the matter.