A correctional officer at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway has been arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

Richard Jefferson Harris, 52, of Pueblo, is accused of contacting someone in an Internet chatroom whom he believed to be under 15 — actually an undercover DA's investigator — and allegedly solicited sexually explicit photographs. He also attempted to arrange a meeting, said Pam Russell of the Jefferson County district attorney's office.

The arrest was the 50th this year by DA's Investigator Mike Harris and his team.

The suspect, who has worked for the State Department of Corrections for 14 years, was arrested Tuesday night in Pueblo. He was suspended with pay pending an investigation, DOC spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said.