Mar. 22—An Albuquerque man was arrested Tuesday at the Coronado Condominiums in Santa Fe following a monthslong undercover operation where the suspect is accused of soliciting sex from someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl.

Joseph Vukosovich, 51, is accused of sending Santa Fe police detectives a deluge of email and text messages discussing sex acts, requesting nude and semi-nude photos and included obscene pictures of himself, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

"I have a bad fetish for young girls," Vukosovich wrote in one of the messages, according to the complaint.

He is charged with three counts of child solicitation by electronic communication device; attempting to cause or permit a child to engage in sexual exploitation; criminal sexual communication with a child; child solicitation by electronic communication device/meets with a child; and attempting to commit first-degree criminal sexual penetration, according to online court records.

Vukosovich's only other criminal charge is a 2012 traffic violation.

Santa Fe police started engaging with Vukosovich online in January after a detective posing as an underage girl found a social media post stating he was looking for young girls who like older men.

Near the beginning of the undercover operation, Vukosovich asked investigators to send a picture of of the 12-year-old he thought he was chatting with. Police responded with an age-regressed photo of a Santa Fe police detective who is really in her 30s, and continued to use photos of her throughout their investigation, according to the complaint.

"You are very cute can you take one now holding up three finger[s] for me please I need to be careful," Vukosovich responded, according to the complaint.

The chats, which started via email before migrating to a text conversation, became more explicit once investigators sent Vukosovich a second age-regressed photo with the detective holding up three fingers. The email address and phone number used during the chats were both tied to Vukosovich before his arrest.

Police closed in on Vukosovich in March after he asked to meet her. Investigators suggested they meet on March 21 at the Coronado Condominiums on Cerrillos Road, where the underage girl would be dog-sitting at a cousin's apartment during spring break, according to the complaint.

Albuquerque police were surveilling Vukosovich's house Tuesday morning when he left for Santa Fe. He arrived at the Coronado Condominiums at about noon, and was arrested shortly afterward.

The investigation was coordinated between the Santa Fe and Albuquerque police departments and the state Attorney General's Office.

"The mission of our office is to keep New Mexicans safe and to build strong relationships with community advocates. Today's arrest, and the months of prep work, are a direct result of our mission coming to life," Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a statement. "I want to thank my team of special agents and the Santa Fe Police Department for working diligently together to take a child predator off of our streets."

An initial court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon but was canceled. Vukosovich was still in Santa Fe County jail as of early afternoon Wednesday.