Fired LA sheriff's deputy charged after child predator sting

A fired sheriff's deputy faces felony charges after being arrested in an Internet child predator sting, prosecutors said.

Joseph Carlos, 31, was charged Tuesday with one count of meeting a minor for lewd purposes and one count of attempted lewd act upon a child under 14, the district attorney's office said in a statement.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to four years in state prison, prosecutors said.

Carlos, who was a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy for seven years, could not be reached for comment. Directory assistance had no telephone number under his name. The district attorney's office did not immediately know if he had an attorney.

Police said Carlos thought he was meeting a 13-year-old girl he contacted through an online chat room at the time of his March 31 arrest. The "girl" was an undercover policewoman.

Carlos was put on paid leave after his arrest. Information about the arrest was withheld until Nov. 8 when Sheriff Lee Baca moved to fire him. Carlos had worked at the Carson station.

Carlos was free on $100,000 bail pending the completion of a review of the evidence against him, prosecutors said. He was scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 17.