PORTSMOUTH � A Vermont man was indicted for 11 charges alleging his attempt to have sex with a 12-year-old girl in Portsmouth.

Indicted by the most recent Rockingham County grand jury was Joseph Norko, 51, of 16 Deer Ave., St. Johnsbury. Allegations in the indictments allege Norko was communicating with undercover police when he thought he was arranging for a sexual encounter with a girl.

One of the indictments charges Norko with attempted felonious sexual assault and alleges that on Aug. 4 he wired $200 through Western Union in Portsmouth to pay for sexual relations with a girl. Based on those allegations, he was also indicted for a felony count of prostitution alleging he sent cash for sex with someone he thought was a child.

Norko was also indicted for four counts of indecent exposure and lewdness alleging he sent lewd photos of himself to someone he thought was the child's mother and he asked the recipient to show them to her child. Those crimes are alleged to have occurred on four days in July, in Portsmouth.

The grand jury also indicted Norko for four counts of "certain uses of computers prohibited" that allege he used electronic communications to commit crimes. Those indictments allege Norko sent emails to the person he thought was the girl's mother, seeking to arrange sex crimes against a child.

The indictments mean the grand jury found enough evidence to take the cases to trial and are not findings of guilt. They are the result of work by the statewide Internet Crimes Against Children task force.