Prosecutor: State Trooper Charged with Attempted Sexual Assault of 14-Year-Old

A New Jersey State Police Trooper has been charged with attempting to arrange a sexual encounter and obtain sexually graphic images from a child, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Tuesday.

The trooper, Shane H. Dempsey, 31, of Brick Township, has been 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 this matter was initiated earlier this year by a 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 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.

Yesterday, Dempsey was taken into custody in Ewing (Mercer County) and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending future proceedings in Monmouth County Superior Court.

Anyone with additional information about Dempsey’s alleged activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Anthony Lacher at 800-533-7443.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Competello of the MCPO High Tech Bureau. Dempsey is being represented by Charles J. Uliano, Esq., with an office in West Long Branch.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office