A 31-year-old New Jersey State Police trooper accused of trying to pay for a sex act involving a young female teen has been criminally charged with attempting to arrange an encounter and obtain sexually graphic images from the person he believed was a child.
Shane H. Dempsey, 31, of Brick Township (Ocean County), 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.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced that an investigation was initiated earlier this year by a 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 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.
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.
Santiago thanked the New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and Brick Township Police Department for assisting in this investigation and arrest.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Competello of the MCPO High Tech Bureau.
Dempsey is being represented by West Long Branch lawyer Charles J. Uliano, an “approved attorney” for the Police Legal Defense Fund, both the New Jersey State Police and Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.), and the New Jersey Educational Association (N.J.E.A.).
Anyone with additional information about Dempsey’s activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Anthony Lacher at 800-533-7443.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.