Six men were arrested after authorities say they tried to engage in prostitution with a minor during a sex-trafficking sting conducted in St. Paul this winter.

The men were charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

Each responded to an ad posted by law enforcement on Backpage.com’s dating section Dec. 18 under the heading “Minneapolis/St. Paul Women Seeking Men” that contained a photograph of “a very young looking female in a provocative pose,” charges say.

While the website requires all advertisements be posted by people 18 or older, authorities say it is well known that people younger than that can be behind the ad, the criminal complaint said.

After inquiring about rates and services, each was asked via text message by the undercover officers operating the sting if he was OK having sex with someone who was actually only 15, according to the charges.

When the men showed up to meet with who they believed to be a minor at the agreed upon location in St. Paul, they discovered law enforcement officers waiting for them instead and were arrested, the complaints said.

When later questioned by investigators, some of the men said they had never intended to engage in sex with a minor. Some also declined to be interviewed.

Those charged include Marcos Antonio Cardenas, 48, of St. Paul; Keith Thomas Resvick, 56, of Burnsville; Dmitriy Nikolayevich Glushko, 35, of Lakeville; Chue Lee, 33, of St. Paul; Yan Zheng, 34, of Apple Valley; and John Russell Brown Jr., 45, of Waterville, Minn.

Each faces one count of attempting to engage in prostitution with someone believed to be between 13 and 16 years old.

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Attorneys were not listed for the six in court records as of Tuesday.

St. Paul police conducted the sting along with help from several other agencies, including the Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Oakdale, Woodbury and Bloomington police departments as well as the Hennepin County sheriff’s office.