A Birmingham man was arrested Wednesday night by detectives after he traveled to Rome, Georgia for the purpose of having sex with a teen and then flying her to Oregon.  Gerry Pugh, 55, has a Birmingham, Alabama address but he works in Portland, Oregon at an electric company. He drove to Floyd County from Alabama on Wednesday after chatting for more than a week with Sgt. Misty Pledger – whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Their messages were sexually charged and included plans to have sex at a nearby motel.  Police arrested the man in a vehicle that was owned by a family member, and found him to be in possession of cocaine and a firearm.  In addition to the obscene conversation, he also discussed taking his teen acquaintance back to the West Coast.

Pugh was booked in at the Floyd County Jail on charges of electronic enticement of a child, obscene internet contact with a child, the sexual exploitation of a minor, a criminal attempt of child molestation, possession of controlled substance and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

(WRGA/www.wrgarome.com)