A former Fayetteville man has been sentenced to 180 days in a detention center after pleading guilty to arranging a sexual encounter online with a girl he thought was 14 years old but who turned out to be an undercover police officer, police said.

Peter R. Seckinger, 45, who now lives in Reston, Va., pled guilty Monday morning to violating the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Act of 1999. He was arrested in September of last year as part of an ongoing Internet sting conducted by the Peachtree City Police Department.

Seckinger had arranged online to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl for a sexual encounter at the Line Creek Nature Area, according to Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray.

Fayette County Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. declined to sign off on the negotiated plea deal that called for probation instead of the detention center time, officials said.

Seckinger’s company, Seckinger Design Associates, had an office in Peachtree City, Murray noted.

Seckinger was president of the company, according to the company’s Web site.

A detention center is not a prison but instead is a secure location designed for non-violent offenders who work on local public works projects — such as maintaining public buildings, parks and land — during the day while they attend counseling, substance abuse treatment and education classes in the evening.

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