TOPEKA – An Ottawa man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in federal prison for driving to Missouri to meet what he believed was a mother who was willing to sell her 10-year-old daughter for sex, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release.

The man, Michael David Mitchell, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel to engage in unlawful sexual conduct. According to the news release, investigators received information that Mitchell was looking for a woman with a minor child to become his sex slaves. He communicated with an undercover investigator posing as a broker who could find Mitchell what he wanted. In his plea, Mitchell admitted that in June 2017 he drove from Ottawa to Independence, Mo., to meet a woman he had been told was willing to make the deal. He brought money with him to pay a $5,000 finder’s fee.

In addition, he was ordered to pay $5,000 to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.