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Stephen Wilson, 34, of Bayonne will be sentenced to eight years in state prison in exchange for his guilty plea before a Superior Court judge in Mays Landing on Thursday to attempted aggravated sexual assault, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Wilson was carrying condoms and $500 in cash when State Police and federal Homeland Security agents arrested him this past February, Bruck said.
He’d agreed to bring the condoms to a meeting there with adults who “offered him access to the girls” after they connected on an incest app, the attorney general said.
Wilson took a deal from prosecutors rather than go to trial after state authorities charged him with conspiracy to commit human trafficking, attempted aggravated sexual assault and child endangerment.
Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. scheduled sentencing for Oct. 21. In addition to the prison term, Wilson will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life following his release.
The sentence should “serve as a warning to anyone who believes they can exploit or prey on innocent children.” Bruck said. “Predators like Wilson will go to great lengths to sexually exploit children, but law enforcement will go farther to bring them to justice.”
“Child predators like Wilson are not only using more sophisticated technologies, but they are networking with other abusers in order to find their next victim,” said New Jersey State Police Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan.
Bruck credited detectives with the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, special agents of Homeland Security Investigations’ Newark office and deputy attorneys general of the state Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Financial & Cyber Crimes Bureau.
Deputy Attorney General Rachael Weeks secured the plea, he said.
Wilson, who was a Hudson County sheriff’s officer for less than a year before joining the JCPD in 2009, was suspended following his arrest. His current work status couldn’t be immediately determined on Thursday.
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