Internet sex predator Matthew Cargill was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl he met through the victim's MySpace page.

Cargill, 32, was originally charged with two counts of first-degree sex assault, five counts of third-degree sex assault and electronic enticement of a minor.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors reduced the first-degree charges to second-degree offenses and Cargill then pleaded guilty to all the charges.

Last year, the Legislature changed the law on the electronic enticement charge, making it punishable by a mandatory 10-year prison term. But Cargill was sentenced under the old law, allowing him to seek the probation and jail sentence.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thalia Murphy asked Judge Karen Ahn to sentence Cargill to 10 years in prison, calling him a sex predator "who appears to have a preference for teenaged girls."

Murphy said Cargill has previously been convicted of open lewdness and stalking charges.

Defense lawyer Myles Breiner said the jail and probation sentence was appropriate under the plea agreement reached with prosecutors and will allow Cargill to seek immediate sex-offender treatment.

Cargill posed as a 16-year-old boy when he contacted the victim through the Internet. He arranged to meet her outside her home in March 2006 and sexually assaulted her in his truck, according to court files.

The girl told police she thought Cargill was in his 20s but he was 30 years old at the time of the offenses.

Murphy said Cargill's crimes had "a devastating effect" on the victim and her family.