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24 charged in Net pedophile sting
A lieutenant colonel in the US army reserve and a fireman were among two dozen men arrested for soliciting sex from a minor after an elaborate police sting operation carried out on the Internet.
A lieutenant colonel in the US army reserve and a fireman were among two dozen men arrested for soliciting sex from a minor after an elaborate police sting operation carried out on the Internet.
The suspects, all from Manhattan or Long Island and ranging in age from 20 to 48, solicited sex from detectives who posed as underage boys and girls in online chat rooms, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.
They were charged with attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor - a felony that carries a maximum jail term of four years.
Thirteen of the suspects who sought a meeting with the undercover police they met online were invited to a house in New York's Suffolk County and told that the child's parents would be away.
They were arrested on arrival.
The other 11 were arrested after sending sexually explicit messages or photographs online.
Police said army reserve Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Winckelmann was picked up for sending sexually graphic messages to a detective posing as a 13-year-old boy.
