A well-known Mt. Lebanon High School teacher and tennis coach was arrested Thursday and charged with sexually soliciting what he thought was a 14-year-old girl online.

The state attorney general's office said that Nicholas E. Salvo, 34, of Rocklynn Place, Mt. Lebanon, used a computer to access a teen chat room July 3, using the screen name "1 thick daddy."

There, prosecutors said, he contacted what he thought was a 14-year-old girl. That person really was an undercover agent with the attorney general office's Child Predator Unit.

Within minutes of making initial contact, Mr. Salvo sent a private message asking the girl her measurements and telling her, "I like younger girls," investigators said.

According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Salvo told the girl he was watching pornography online and then sent her sexually explicit video through his Webcam. He also showed his face, police said.

In other chats over several days, the complaint said, Mr. Salvo referred to the video and asked the girl, "did you enjoy the other night," and told her, "you got to see a big one, too."

In other messages posted on a public teen chat forum, Mr. Salvo asked, "Are there any hot girls here for a sexy, older man," and indicated he'd expose himself.

Mt. Lebanon school officials said yesterday in a news release that Mr. Salvo has been suspended. They said he was immediately barred from school property upon hearing of the arrest.

Several people contacted within the district, including parents and members of the Parent Teacher Association, would not comment on Mr. Salvo or the charges against him.

According to an online listing posted by Mr. Salvo at Taking IT Global, he began teaching chemistry at Mt. Lebanon High in 1999. He also listed himself as the technology integration coach.

For at least the last year, he has been out of the classroom, participating in the state-funded Classrooms for the Future program, in which he helps to train other teachers in uses of technology in instruction.

Mr. Salvo's wife, Erica, is listed as an English teacher at the high school, though it appears she is on leave.

According to his Web posting, he has a master's degree in education from Duquesne University, and said on the Web page that he was working toward a second master's at the University of Phoenix Online.

Mr. Salvo also said that he is a certified tennis instructor.

That is how Sonja Schutte, a parent in Mt. Lebanon, said she knows Mr. Salvo. He coached both her and her daughter.

He served as the varsity tennis coach at Mt. Lebanon three years ago. Her daughter was on the junior varsity team at the time.

"We found him to be strict without being overbearing," Ms. Schutte said. "He didn't try to endear himself to anyone.

"I found him to be very pleasant, personable and professional."

Ms. Schutte, who also knew Mr. Salvo through the Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center, said she was surprised by the charges against him.

"I almost can't believe it," she said.

Mr. Salvo faces five felonies, including two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of attempted unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of criminal use of a computer.

He was released on $25,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Thursday before Mt. Lebanon District Judge Blaise Larotonda.