SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — A man who authorities say groomed a Washington state teen online for more than year before bringing her to Southwest Michigan has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

On Nov. 8, Keith Freerksen pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington to traveling with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and enticement of a minor, court documents show.

The traveling charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and the enticement charge is punishable by 30 years to life. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Authorities say Freerksen met the 14-year-old girl online, went to Washington to get her and brought her back to his home near South Haven early this year. After she was reported missing Jan. 6, police worked out she had been speaking with Freerksen online for months.

Court documents outlining his plea deal said the two had been in contact as far back as November 2022, when the girl was 13.

“Freerksen knowingly utilized a cellular telephone and the internet to engage in communications with (the teen) in an attempt to persuade, induce, and entice (her) to engage in sexual activity which was illegal due to (her) age,” the plea document reads. “Freerksen sent (the teen) a phone in order to circumvent parental restrictions and communicate without interference. Those communications were sexually explicit in nature and included nude video chats. Freerksen also requested (the teen) to produce child sexual abuse material and send it to him via various social media applications. (She) complied.”

Authorities went to Freerksen’s home in late January, arrested him and found the girl. She told investigators there were “multiple sexual encounters’ with Freerksen, they said.

In addition to the federal counts, Freerksen was charged with a number of state-level charges out of Van Buren County. He has a hearing in that case next week.

He was previously convicted of child porn charges in the Orlando, Florida, area in 2017, the Michigan Sex Offender Registry shows.