A Jersey City police officer admitted today that he drove to Atlantic City for a sexual encounter with two underage girls and now faces eight years in state prison.
Stephen Wilson, a 34-year-old Bayonne resident, was arrested in February in a parking lot where he allegedly planned to meet adults who offered him the chance to sexually assault two girls, ages 8 and 10, for $200.
“Predators like Wilson will go to great lengths to sexually exploit children, but law enforcement will go farther to bring them to justice,” said acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck. “Let this sentence serve as a warning to anyone who believes they can exploit or prey on innocent children. We will continue to work with our partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute child predators.”
Wilson, who was suspended from the police department immediately following his arrest, has agreed to eight years in prison as part of his plea agreement, must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, and will be subject to parole supervision for life. His sentencing is set for October 21.
Jersey City is expected to terminate Wilson.
Prosecutors say Wilson used an incest group chat app and was told to bring condoms if his intention was to participate in sexual intercourse. Wilson had condoms and more than $500 at the time of his arrest, the prosecutors said.
“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 Col. Patrick Callahan, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
According to Wilson’s LinkedIn page, he became a police officer in 2009 after working as a Hudson County Sheriff’s officer.
Bruck asked those with knowledge about the distribution of child sexual abuse materials on the Internet, or with information about people communicating with children for possible exploitation or sexual abuse to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tip line at 888-648-6007.