A 61-year-old man is under arrest after authorities say he solicited a minor girl for sex.

The Leeds Police Department on Wednesday said Paul Allan Sellers, who lives in Double Springs, is charged with first-degree human trafficking.

Chief Paul Irwin said at the time of Sellers’ arrest, he was in possession of identification indicating that he is a respiratory therapist at a Birmingham hospital.

The investigation began after Leeds detectives received information that Sellers had been soliciting underage girls for sex.

Irwin said Sellers communicated with an undisclosed person, indicating that he wanted to meet juvenile girls for sex. That communication took place while Sellers was in Birmingham, so he was arrested on the human trafficking charge in Jefferson County.

That solicitation conversation, Irwin said, led to Sellers traveling to Leeds where he intended to meet the minor. The chief said Sellers was going to “pay for sexual activity with this child and perform sexual activity with this minor child.”

Several more charges are expected to be filed against Sellers on Thursday in St. Clair County, Irwin said.

“The activity and intentions of this defendant are disturbing to myself, and everyone involved in bringing him to justice,’’ Irwin said. “I look forward to his long incarceration and I am glad he has been removed from the community.”

Anyone with information on Sellers or any other person attempting to sexually abuse a child is asked to call Leeds police at 205-699-2581.