The Alaska State Trooper accused of trying to lure a 16-year-old he met at a traffic stop to a hotel room has been identified as a Soldotna officer.
Vance Peronto, 57, was charged Monday with attempted sexual abuse of a minor after investigators from the Alaska State Troopers were notified that Peronto had inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old girl, according to an Alaska Department of Public Safety release.
Investigators said Peronto pulled the girl over April 8 for driving without her headlights on, but did not issue a citation. He later contacted the girl on social media and started a social relationship.
The girl and her family gave troopers permission to collect electronic evidence pertinent to the case. Peronto was arrested Sunday by troopers and Anchorage Police Department officers after he tried to set up a rendezvous with the girl in an Anchorage hotel room, investigators reported.
Peronto, a 16-year trooper veteran, has been with the Soldotna post since November 2015, said Megan Peters, Alaska State Trooper public information officer, in an email.
