Keyboard and gavel. (Fotolia.com)

PETERBOROUGH, ONT. - A Canadian is looking at an eight-year prison term after pleading guilty in a Kansas court on Wednesday to travelling to that state with the intention of having sex with a 12-year-old girl he met over the Internet.

Stewart Kenneth Cody McGill, 21, Bewdley, Ont., south of Peterborough, Ont., pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

McGill drove from Bewdley to Kansas to pick up the girl taking her out of state for the purpose of having sex with her, according to an FBI press release.

He will be sentenced April 24.

Under the plea deal, the prosecution and defence have agreed to recommend a sentence of eight years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Authorities say McGill travelled to El Dorado, Kansas, in May to meet the girl. They were found a few days later parked on a country road in Michigan.

The girl told authorities at the time she went with McGill willingly.

Prosecutors say McGill told police he met the girl playing World of Warcraft online and that he loved her.

Investigators found text messages on the girl’s cellphone in which McGill indicated he intended to have sex with her and he was aware of her age.