NEWARK, New Jersey (CMC) –

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says a retired New York radio personality has been indicted by a US federal grand jury for attempting to transport a seven-year-old girl from Bergen County, New Jersey to the Caribbean to sexually abuse her.

On Wednesday, ICE said the indictment follows an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark, HSI San Juan and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

David Herman, 78, of Airmont, New York, and St Croix, was arrested in October 2013 at the St Croix airport, where he expected to meet the child, ICE said.

He was indicted on Tuesday on one felony count of attempting to transport a minor to engage in sexual activity.

“This case shows anyone who attempts to exploit a child can and will be held accountable for their criminal actions regardless of where in the world the investigation leads or how much time has passed,” said Andrew McLees, special agent in charge of HSI Newark.

According to court documents, beginning in November 2012, Herman initiated a series of chats on a website with an undercover officer from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Herman believed he was communicating with a 36-year-old single mother of a six-year-old daughter, the documents reveal.

Over the course of the following months, the documents allege that Herman had multiple telephone and online communications with the officer, “during which he indicated his desire to engage in sexual activity with the officer’s fictitious daughter.”

Herman also attempted to arrange illegal sexual encounters with the child in New York state and Bergen County, according to the court documents.

They say that, in early 2013, Herman told the undercover officer that he would like to fly the pair to St. Croix “so he could engage in sexual activity with the daughter.”

The indictment states that on September 30 2013, that Herman purchased airline tickets for them to fly from LaGuardia Airport in New York to St Croix.

If convicted, Herman faces between 10 years and life in prison and up to a US$250,000 fine.