WESTON, Fla. – A University of Michigan professor and self-professed “boy lover” was arrested in Florida after he allegedly attempted to meet up with what he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex.

The FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and officers with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement greeted James Cavalcoli, 51, at a Florida hotel last week when the U of M assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics arrived for a prearranged meeting, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

FDLE Agent Donald Cannon set up the sting by posing as the father of a 14-year-old boy and conversing with Cavalcoli online for 18 months before arranging to meet the man for a “real-time sexual experience” with the boy.

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“In the messages, Cavalcoli referred to himself as a ‘bl,’ which stands for ‘boy lover,’” MLive.com reports.

Cavalcoli allegedly first went to Tampa for a conference then rented a car and drove to the hotel for the rendezvous.

The U of M prof allegedly told investigators in a video-recorded interview after his arrest that he planned to call off the meeting when he arrived.

“He advised that when he arrived he was going to tell the person it wasn’t a good idea,” Cannon testified, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Federal prosecutor Francis Viamontes told the court Cavalcoli said “he has urges when he’s around children, sexual urges,” and requested that he be held without bond, which the judge granted.

“The weight of the evidence against the defendant is substantial,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana S. Snow wrote, according to MLive.

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Snow noted that Cavalcoli has access to at least a half-million dollars and travels often, which makes him a flight risk.

The University of Michigan suspended Cavalcoli with pay until the criminal proceedings conclude. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 24.

“Cavalcoli has lived with a domestic partner for nine years. But the partner left Cavalcoli’s Ann Arbor home when news broke about the professor being arrested while trying to meet the boy for sex …,” according to court records cited by MLive.

There’s also allegedly evidence the Florida meeting wasn’t Cavalcoli’s first tango with online hook-ups.

The former high school teacher posted at least two other online requests for sex with minors since 2013 involving trips he took to Indiana and Ireland. Cavalcoli’s attorney requested that his client be confined to his parents’ upstate New York home with an electronic monitor until the case is resolved, but Snow denied that request.