New Jersey State Police troop car. (Photo: NJSP)
A New Jersey State Police trooper tried to arrange a meeting with a teenage girl for sex after meeting through a smartphone app, however the person on the other end of the conversation turned out to be an undercover detective, authorities announced Tuesday, along with charges against the trooper.
Shane H. Dempsey, 31, of Brick Township, is charged with second-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child via permitting the child to engage in the production of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), second-degree attempted engaging in prostitution, second-degree attempted luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and third-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child via sexual conduct.
An investigation into the matter was initiated earlier this year by a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office detective acting in an undercover capacity on the social media app Whisper. While monitoring the app, the detective was contacted by another user, later identified as Dempsey, who allegedly attempted to solicit sexually explicit images and “expressed a desire to pay money in exchange for a sex act from a person he believed to be a 14-year-old female,” a statement from the prosecutor’s office said.
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On Monday, Dempsey was taken into custody without incident in Ewing, Mercer County, and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending future proceedings in Monmouth County Superior Court.
The New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and Brick Township Police Department assisted in this investigation and arrest, the prosecutor’s office said.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Competello of the MCPO High Tech Bureau. Dempsey is being represented by attorney Charles J. Uliano, of West Long Branch. Anyone with additional information about Dempsey’s activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Anthony Lacher at 800-533-7443.
No photos of Dempsey were released.
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