Cops: Child Mag Editor Solicited Minor

FRANKLIN, Mass. – An editor for a Connecticut-based youth publishing group was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from a minor on the Internet.

Noel Neff (search), 46, of Norwalk, Conn., an editor at the Weekly Reader Corp. (search), was arrested Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of the Franklin Village Mall (search), where he'd arranged a meeting with a minor for sex, authorities told the MetroWest Daily News of Framingham.

He faces two charges related to using "the Internet with the intent to travel to have sex with a minor," FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said.

Neff remained in custody Tuesday while he awaits an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Boston, Marcinkiewicz said.

She had no further details on Tuesday morning.

Weekly Reader Corp., based in Stamford, Conn., publishes several magazines and periodicals for students, including Teen Newsweek, Current Events, Current Health and Career World.

Mia Toschi, a Weekly Reader Corp. spokeswoman, said the company employs an editor named Noel Neff from Norwalk, Conn. She told the Daily News that company officials had been unable to reach him, but she declined to comment further.

"We have no facts right now, and it's not fair for us to make a comment," Toschi said.

There was no answer Tuesday morning at a listing for Noel Neff in Norwalk. And Toschi did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.