A firefighter for the city of Annapolis who lives in Howard County was arrested yesterday and charged with multiple sex offenses after he was accused of used the Internet to solicit sex from a Frederick County law enforcement officer he believed was a minor.

The "minor" turned out to be Michael Sable, a Frederick County sheriff's deputy and a member of the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posing as a minor in cyberspace chat rooms.

Nicholas E. Citro Jr., 28, of the 6500 block of Huntshire Drive in Elkridge, was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree sex offense, two counts of attempted second-degree rape and one count of using a computer to solicit sex with a minor.

Citro was being held at the Frederick County Central Booking Facility pending a bail hearing.

According to state police, Citro engaged Sable in conversation June 12 about meeting him for sex, believing Sable was a minor. Police said Citro also discussed having sex with an additional minor.

Police said Citro gave the deputy a description of the vehicle he would be driving and was arrested about 2 p.m. by members of the task force when he arrived at an agreed-upon location in Frederick.

Police said Citro's arrest was the 40th since the inception of the task force in January 1999, and was the 10th arrest this year involving people using the Internet to solicit sex with minors.

The legality of such Internet stings is under review by the state Court of Appeals, with lawyers for the accused arguing that no crime was committed because the "victims" were not minors but adult law enforcement officers.