Brick state trooper sent home to pregnant wife to await trial in child-sex solicitation case

FREEHOLD - A state trooper was released from jail Wednesday and sent home to Brick to live under house arrest with his pregnant wife and two children while awaiting trial on charges he tried to solicit sex from someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Despite calling the crimes Shane H. Dempsey is accused of "repugnant,'' Superior Court Judge Vincent N. Falcetano said he didn't feel the defendant's release from jail would pose a danger to the community as long as he doesn't have any access to the internet.

Falcetano ordered that Dempsey is not to have access to a computer, the internet or a cellphone while under house arrest, and said if he uses someone else's phone or electronics, he will go back to jail.

At a detention hearing Wednesday, Joseph Competello, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, outlined the state's case against Dempsey, 31, a seven-year member of the New Jersey State Police force, including that he had confessed the crimes to his wife and that he committed them while on duty and in a State Police vehicle.

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In late May, Detective Anthony Lacher of the prosecutor's high-tech crimes unit was monitoring a social media application known as "Whisper," using a profile describing him as a girl who was about to begin high school, when he was contacted by a person with the user name "Monster_random," who was later identified as Dempsey, Competello said.

On June 21, using the "Monster_random" user name, Dempsey asked the "fictional" teenager to perform a sex act on him and offered to pay her for it, Competello said. He also asked the person to send him nude photographs of herself, the assistant prosecutor said.

When the fictional girl asked if it was OK that she was only 14, he again requested sexual photographs and made arrangements to meet that day at iPlay America in Freehold Township, Competello said.

While en route to the meeting location, Dempsey texted the person a photograph of $200 in cash and, about 11:16 a.m., he sent the person he thought was the girl a text telling her to stand under a green canopy next to iPlay America, Competello said.

However, when he neared the meeting location, Dempsey sent more texts to the person he thought was a teenager, saying "This phone is no longer in service, — stop, leave," the assistant prosecutor said.

When he later confessed his crimes to his wife, Dempsey told her he spotted what he suspected were undercover police vehicles and decided to turn around and go home, Competello said.

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Through the investigation, police traced the "Monster-random" user name to an IP address being used at Dempsey's residence, he said. On June 29, a representative of the State Police contacted Lacher to inform him that Dempsey had confessed the crimes to his wife.

"He told her that he had traveled to iPlay America to meet with a 14-year-old girl for the purpose of sex and that he met the girl on Whisper," Competello said.

On June 30, the day before he was arrested, Dempsey purchased a new iPhone 14 at an AT&T store in Point Pleasant, the assistant prosecutor said. Dempsey's wife, meanwhile, told authorities he purchased the same model phone that he already had and offered no reason why he needed to replace his existing phone, Competello said.

The whereabouts of the phone Dempsey used to communicate on Whisper, the most crucial electronics evidence against him, are unknown, the assistant prosecutor said.

However, a grey Dodge Ram, the same as Dempsey's assigned police vehicle, was captured on surveillance video driving on what would be the route to and from iPlay America in the same time frame as the planned meet-up, Competello said.

"This defendant stands in a position where he understands more than most the gravity and seriousness of the laws that he was breaking, of the laws that he swore to uphold," Competello said.

"He didn't honor his oath, he perverted his oath," Competello said, asking the judge to keep Dempsey behind bars while he awaits trial.

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"Obviously, my client is in law enforcement," said Dempsey's attorney, Thomas Huth. "That should not be held against him."

Huth noted Dempsey has no criminal record and said he has strong ties to the community, which include his wife of 3½ years and two children, with another baby on the way.

Huth also questioned whether the statement his client's wife made to police will be admissible at trial, saying it is protected by marital privilege.

The defense attorney noted that Dempsey currently is suspended without pay from his job.

Pension records indicate Dempsey was earning $80,704 a year.

"In this case, the nature and circumstances of these offenses are heavily concerning," Falcetano said.

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"I agree with the prosecutor here that this case could have turned out far worse than it did," the judge continued.

"This is repugnant behavior, anti-social behavior, it's deviant behavior," he said. "If convicted, the weight of the law will come down heavily on the defendant."

Dempsey is charged with luring a child for sex, attempted sexual assault, attempted endangering the welfare of a child through sexual conduct with a minor, attempted endangering the welfare of a child by soliciting child pornography, attempting to engage a minor in prostitution, official misconduct and evidence tampering.

The judge said there was good and bad news about the case.

"The good news is that there was no 14-year-old girl on the other end of the electronic communications," Falcetano said. "The bad news is, there could have been a 14-year-old girl that he was speaking to."

Falcetano scheduled Dempsey's next court appearance for Aug. 15 before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues, unsolved mysteries and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com; 732-643-4202.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Judge frees Brick state trooper from jail in child-sex case