New Jersey State Police (NJSP)

By Sam Barron From Daily Voice

A former New Jersey State Trooper, was sentenced to seven years in person after he admitted to trying to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex, authorities announced Friday, Dec. 12.

Shane Dempsey had contacted someone on the app Whisper, who he believed was a 14-year-old girl, but was actually a detective working undercover, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said.

Dempsey attempted to solicit sexually explicit images and expressed a desire to pay money in exchange for a sex act from a person he believed was the girl, Santiago said.

The state trooper arrived for a meeting with the girl in his police-issued vehicle, Santiago said. He was subsequently taken into custody, Santiago said.

As part of his guilty plea for attempted sexual assault and official misconduct, Dempsey must forfeit his public position and was barred from future public employment in New Jersey for life, Santiago said.