A 24-year-old man currently living at the Larch Corrections Center in Yacolt, Wash., is accused of having sex with an underaged girl he met over the Internet in 2005, court documents state.

Prosecutors charged Caleb Love, formerly a North Whidbey resident, in Island County Superior Court Aug. 20 with the rape of a child in the third degree. Under the definition of the charge, the victim is at least 14 but less than 16 years old and the perpetrator is at least 48 months older than the victim.

According to a report by Detective Sue Quandt with the Island County Sheriff’s Office, a 15-year-old Bellingham High School student met Love over the Internet in the fall of 2005. The following March, they met in Bellingham for a date. Love told the girl’s parents he was 17 years old, the report states.

The girl allegedly told Love that she was 15 and he “told her not to tell anyone or he would get into trouble,” the report states.

In the following months, Love and the girl had sex several times at his mobile home on Whidbey, Quandt wrote.

If convicted of the charge, Love could face from two years and seven months to three years and five months in prison under the standard sentencing range.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.