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Original Article

Aug 22, 3:11 AM EDT

Restaurant owner accused of soliciting officer who posed as teen

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A businessman accused of soliciting a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl on an Internet site has been arrested.

Peter Picurro, 44, was arrested on two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, police said in a press release.

Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Picurro had contacted a member of the group who was posing as a child on the Internet. Picurro propositioned that person for sex, police said.

A Tucson police detective then posed as a 14-year-old girl on the Internet, and Picurro was arrested after contacting the detective, police said.

Picurro started the Picurro Pizzeria chain in 1992. It has six locations in Tucson and Marana. Picurro owns one of the Tucson locations and co-owns another.

Picurro, a former board member of the Tucson Children's Museum, is known for contributing time and money to children's causes, donating pizzas and offering free tours to schoolchildren who make their own pizzas while learning about nutrition.