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FBI arrests 27-year-old man from New York who drove to Ohio to have sex with a minor

The 14-year-old girl told police that she believed the man to be a 16-year-old boy.

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — Editor's note: The video in the player above is from a previously published, unrelated story.

The Cleveland Division of the FBI has arrested a 27-year-old New York man who allegedly flew to Cleveland to have sex with a 14-year-old girl.

27-year-old Brandon Thomas Kern has been charged with traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. 

On Thursday, a 14-year-old North Olmsted resident and her mother filed a police report in connection to online activity that Kern allegedly had with the child. 

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The 14-year-old girl told detectives with the North Olmsted Police Department that she believed Kern was a 16-year-old boy until he had told her that he had rented a vehicle and was driving to Ohio to have sex with her. That's when the girl told her mother about the interactions with the man. 

The 14-year-old also said that Kern threatened to release explicit photos of her if she did not agree to meet with him. 

Agents with the FBI and officers with the North Olmsted Police Department met Kern at the library, where the 27-year-old told the girl to meet him. Kern was taken into custody without incident and admitted to communicating with the girl. 

Kern appeared in court Friday at 2 p.m. 

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Editor's note: The video in the player above is from a previously published, unrelated story.

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