Man, 66, accused of trying to arrange sex with children

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A 66-year-old man was arrested today on a charge of trying to solicit sexual activity with two children, the state Attorney General's Office and New Port Richey police said in statements.

In April, Richard John Hannon of 5110 Sandpiper Road, New Port Richey, contacted an undercover detective posing as the mother of two children in an Internet chat room, authorities said. Over a two-month period, Hannon told the detective he wanted to have sex with the children, authorities said. He tried to arrange a trip to meet the children, authorities said, but the trip was never made.

Hannon is a registered sex offender. In 1999, Pasco deputies arrested him for using a computer to try to solicit a young boy for sex, according to the state Attorney General's Office. Under the terms of his probation in that case, Hannon was barred from using the Internet for 2 1/2 years.

New Port Richey police and investigators from the state CyberCrime Unit made today's arrest at Hannon's home. Hannon was charged with one count of unlawful solicitation of a parent for sex acts with a child. He will be booked into Pasco County Jail later today.

Nomaan Merchant, Times staff writer

{Pasco Sheriff's Office]