SANTA ANA-- A California Highway Patrol lieutenant and 12 others were charged Wednesday with attempted child molestation for allegedly trying to lure into sexual encounters people they thought were 12- and 13-year-old girls they had met on the Internet.

CHP Lt. Stephen Robert Deck and the other men were arrested on Feb. 18, according to Orange County Deputy District Attorney Susan Kang Schroeder. He and seven defendants posted bail while six others were still being held on $100,000, she said.

All face counts of attempted lewd acts upon a child under age 14.

The defendants, ages 19 to 51, allegedly chatted online with people from perverted-justice.com, a group whose members pose as12- and 13-year-old girls to talk with suspected child molesters, then turn over the information to authorities.

Parts of the conversations, some stretching over hours and days, were sexually explicit, according to authorities.

Deck, 51, is no longer employed with the CHP, according to an agency statement. The 23-year veteran worked at a number of CHP facilities, most recently in Orange County.

"The alleged actions of this individual did not represent the high standard of the California Highway Patrol. Not only do we find this behavior offensive, but disrespectful to the community and the department," CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said in a statement.

Deck was arrested at an Orange County park where he met a female law enforcement official posing as the girl, Schroeder said. The rest were arrested at a house where they had planned to meet the girl.

One defendant pleaded not guilty Wednesday, while Deck and several others were scheduled to be arraigned at the end of February. Still others had arraignments scheduled for March 10.

Besides lewd acts, one defendant faces charges of possessing methamphetamine and a drug pipe. Another was charged with sending an explicit image over the Internet.

The child molest charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in state prison.