A 45-year-old Missouri man was charged Monday in Douglas County District Court with enticement of a child, following an investigation by Baldwin City police.

Baldwin City Police Chief Mike McKenna said Tuesday that his officers, with help from Johnson County Sheriff’s officers, arrested the man last Thursday in the parking lot of Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.

McKenna noted the man has been arrested and charged with similar offenses in several states, including California and Arkansas.

“This is a big catch,” McKenna said. “I believe it shows what we’re doing is working. : You just can’t believe some of the things he says and does. It just makes you wonder about what these kids are saying online.”

McKenna said the man was the focus of an online investigation. The man, McKenna said, is an interstate truck driver.

“He agreed to meet us at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe,” McKenna said. “He’s got a GPS in his truck and couldn’t get too far from I-35 because his employers would know where he was at.”

During an interview with officers, the man said he was ill. He was taken to Olathe Medical Center for overnight observation and later given a clean bill of health, he said.

The man remains in Douglas County Jail on $200,000 bond, he said. His next court appearance is set for today.

In early November, Baldwin City police arrested a Carbondale man on similar charges.

“Yes, it was much the same – e-mail conversations, basically, with an underage girl,” McKenna said.

The Nov. 2 arrest was the first in Douglas County involving electronic solicitation. That 38-year-old man is scheduled for trial Feb. 19. He remains jailed on $80,000 bond.

The Journal-World generally does not print the names of suspects in sex crimes unless they have been convicted.