Aust sex accused turns down LA hearing

Australian geneticist Michael Quinn is being held in Los Angeles' Metropolitan Detention Center after his arrest in a child-sex sting.

A Melbourne rugby union player accused of trying to pay $US260 ($A348) to molest a six-year-old boy at a Los Angeles sex party has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Michael Quinn, 33, faces life in US prison if convicted of a charge of attempted sex trafficking of a minor.

He is also charged with one count of travelling to the US for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Quinn was arrested during an undercover sting by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a beachside Los Angeles hotel on May 21 where he allegedly believed a six-year-old boy would be delivered by a pimp.

The preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 6 in the US District Court.

A post-indictment arraignment has been set for June 20 and Quinn, deemed "a serious risk" he would attempt to flee the US if on bail, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Quinn, a Monash University-educated geneticist who worked at a leading Melbourne IVF clinic, was in Los Angeles with members of the Melbourne Chargers rugby team.

US authorities said his teammates did not know about his plan to visit the hotel.


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Source: AAP



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