Prosecutor: New Jersey police officer tried to persuade teenager to have sex

FREEHOLD, NJ — A New Jersey State Police officer from Brick Township was arrested after offering sex for payment to a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl and asking her for sexually explicit images, the Monmouth County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Shane H. Dempsey, 31, was charged with attempted second-degree child endangerment for allowing the child to participate in the production of child sexual abuse material, said District Attorney Raymond S. Santiago.

Subscribe to

Dempsey is also charged with attempted second-degree prostitution, attempted second-degree seduction, attempted second-degree sexual assault and attempted third-degree endangering the welfare of a child through sexual conduct, prosecutors said.

The investigation began earlier this year when a detective with the Monmouth County District Attorney’s Office undercover monitored activity on the social media app Whisper. Authorities said a detective was operating undercover on the social media app Whisper.

While monitoring the app, the investigator was contacted by another user, later identified as Dempsey, who attempted to request sexually explicit images and expressed a desire to pay money for a sex act with someone he believed was a 14-year-old female, Santiago said.

Dempsey was arrested in Ewing without incident and is being held at the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township pending the outcome of court proceedings.

The New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards, the Ocean County District Attorney’s Office and the Brick Township Police Department assisted in the investigation.