An Australian rugby player arrested in the US for attempting to rape a six-year-old boy at a paedophile party has been jailed for 12 years.

Melbourne IVF geneticist Michael Quinn, 33, was caught in Los Angeles in May at a sting set up by US authorities who posed as paedophiles and a pimp offering to supply him with a young boy to rape for $US250 ($A328).

Quinn, who played for the Melbourne Chargers, wept throughout his sentencing and claimed it was the first time he had attempted to prey on a child.

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Melbourne IVF geneticist Michael Quinn, 33, was caught in Los Angeles in May at a sting set up by US authorities who posed as paedophiles

Quinn, who played for the Melbourne Chargers, wept throughout his sentencing and claimed it was the first time he had attempted to prey on a child

His ankles were shackled and his parents, Anna and John, who had flown in from Australia to support him, sat in the courtroom to his left.

'If you give me a second chance I won't let you down,' Quinn told US District Court Judge John Walter

Judge Walter showed little leniency, sentencing Quinn to 12 years' jail - the term prosecutors had asked for.

Quinn's lawyer had asked for 10 years.

The court heard Quinn told the undercover agents he was travelling to Los Angeles with the intention of meeting with a 'dad who shares his young ones' and had hoped to meet 'other pervs' on his vacation.

An agent started a conversation with Quinn, who went by 'Mick' online, and the Australian told how he was 'looking for sex with children' and while 'he liked both boys and girls, his favourite were boys, aged 5-10'.

'Would love to share one with you mate,' Quinn allegedly told the agent.

Two days after Quinn landed in Los Angeles and after he settled in with some team-mates at a Hollywood Hills home they had rented, Quinn snuck away.

He caught an Uber to the hotel where the undercover agent had promised a child sex party with 'like-minded men'.

The court heard Quinn told the undercover agents he was travelling to Los Angeles with the intention of meeting with a 'dad who shares his young ones'

When Quinn arrived, the hotel room was prepped for the 'party', with the Cartoon Network on the TV and Toy Story-themed cupcakes to eat.

Quinn brought a camera and a monopod to record the experience.

After about 10 minutes in the room and a beer, an agent posing as a pimp turned up and announced: 'Money time.'

'Quinn, clearly remembering the previous discussions where he had been told the price would be $US250 to sodomise the boy for approximately an hour, he pulled out his money and gave the pimp $US260,' ICE special agent Aaron McClellan wrote in the criminal complaint.

'After Quinn paid the pimp, law enforcement came into the room and arrested everyone.'

Quinn pleaded guilty to the charge of travelling to the US with the intention to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Last month, court documents revealed Quinn was addicted to methamphetamine and authorities seized a pipe when he was arrested at a LA hotel.

When Quinn arrived, the hotel room was prepped for the 'party', with the Cartoon Network on the TV and Toy Story-themed cupcakes to eat

His lawyer, Lisa Shinar LaBarre, said Quinn's severe drug addiction had altered his thinking and created psychotic thoughts.

Quinn had also claimed to have been abused as a child.

The court heard a psychologist who examined Quinn in jail concluded it was unlikely he would reoffend.

Judge Walter said he was not 'overly impressed' by the doctor's report, noting Quinn did not undergo standard testing for pedophilia.

'It upsets me so much that I could be capable of harming a child,' Quinn, dressed in a white prison jumpsuit, told the judge.

Quinn also apologised to Australia for 'damaging its reputation' and told the court 'I never want to put a child in danger again'.

Judge Walter said he did not 'buy' the cause and effect of Quinn's drug addiction and the abuse he suffered as a child.