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In Rockland County, New Jersey resident Brian Reed, age 33, of Sussex, was busted and indicted following an online sting conducted by the District’s Attorney’s Special Investigative Unit.
Rockland County DA Thomas Walsh II noted that Reed is a registered sex offender with a past conviction in New Jersey.
According to Walsh, between Wednesday, May 25 and Thursday, May 26, Reed allegedly exchanged text messages, photos, and phone calls - all sexually explicit in nature - with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met online.
In actuality, Reed was communicating with an undercover investigator from the DA’s office, he said, who was posing as the teen girl.
The indictment alleges that Reed planned to meet the 13-year-old to engage in sexual intercourse at a park in Rockland County.
It is alleged that Reed traveled more than an hour from New Jersey to Rockland to meet up with the teen and have sex. Once he arrived, he was apprehended by investigators from the District Attorney’s Office.
“The goal of the undercover investigation was to identify persons who engage in sexually explicit communication with children on the Internet, arrange to engage in sex acts with a child, and then travel to meet the child for the purpose of having sex,” officials said.
If convicted, Reed will face up to four years in state prison on each count.
“This arrest should send a firm and clear message to any individuals thinking about coming to Rockland County to prey on our minors,” Walsh said in a statement. “You will be arrested and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Reed was transferred into federal custody and will be prosecuted under federal law. Walsh said that the state indictment was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Gerry Damiani.
Walsh said that the undercover investigation was led by his office with the aid of these agencies:
- Clarkstown Police Department;
- Homeland Security Investigations;
- Orangetown Police Department;
- Rockland County Sherif’s Office;
- FBI.
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