A former dentist in Boulder who reportedly flew from Denver to Florida with the intent to sexually assault a child has been arraigned and is set for trial Jan. 6, following a motion approved Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon.

Jason Atha, 50, has been charged with attempted enticement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he flew on Aug. 16 after months of conversing with an undercover agent, according to court documents. Once Atha admitted to federal agents during his arrest that he had child pornography on his phone, he also was charged with transporting and shipping child pornography.

Atha was arraigned on Aug. 26. Officials say they have about 1,000 pages of documentary discovery evidence, including numerous videos, recorded interviews and calls.

Atha is a dentist who was employed at Alpine Dentistry in Boulder at the time of his arrest.

According to an arrest complaint, in October 2023, Atha contacted a special agent, who was serving undercover as a mother who was sexually abusing her daughter. Atha began asking the undercover agent about the ways in which she sexually abused her daughter, and he reportedly said, “I would sooo love to be a part of that.”

The pair messaged over an app and later moved to text message, where Atha shared photos of himself, described what he would like to do to the child and inquired more about meeting up in person.

Atha reportedly indicated that he loved children who have not physically developed yet and in March the agent specified that the fictional child was 9 years old. Atha reportedly continued to describe what he would like to do to the child.

In July, Atha bought a ticket fly from Denver to West Palm Beach.Federal air marshals watched as Atha boarded a plane on Aug. 16 at Denver International Airport headed for Florida. When he landed, Atha was greeted by the undercover agent. As they walked to the parking lot, they were contacted by law enforcement agents, who handcuffed Atha. He was arrested and waived his Miranda Rights.

Atha claimed that he flew to Florida to watch the undercover agent have sex with a child but denied that he was going to have sex with the child.

Broomfield Police’s SWAT team helped the Denver’s Homeland Security Office to execute a search warrant on Atha’s home at 5051 Yates Circle in Broomfield.