Police in a three-state sting operation said they caught 16 people, including a cop and a minister, using chat apps to lure children for sex.

In a news conference Wednesday morning, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced that "Operation Home Alone" had nabbed the alleged child predators from across the region. Half of the men accused are from New Jersey, seven are from New York and one is from Pennsylvania.

The sting operation spannedone week and was executed by a multi-agency task force that included the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, the state police, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, along with others.

The arrests were made over a five-day period in which one accused man drove over 100 miles to meet a person he thought was a child. Despite the high number of arrests, Grewal acknowledged that many more child sex offenders remain in the area.

"If we extended the investigation, we could catch 16 people a week," Grewal said.

The alleged predators came from three states and all walks of life, including from positions of power and trust with families and children. Peter Tuchol Jr., a Ridgewood police officer who was arrested last week, was among the accused.

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"The focus was on the protection of our most vulnerable, our children," said acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo.

Roger Arroyo, 37, a traveling minister from Philadelphia, was charged with attempted criminal sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl. Kevin Roth, 26, a high school teacher from Nanuet, New York, was charged with second-degree luring for allegedly trying to get in contact with a 14-year-old boy.

A Ho-Ho-Kus man, who has been accused of possessing child pornography at least twice in five years, was also among the mugshots. Last April, Jason Keizer was charged with possession of child pornography in an amount less than 1,000 files. He was charged with possession of child pornography in 2014.

At the press conference, 14 of the 16 accused predators' mugshots were shown on an easel for those in attendance. The gallery was a spectrum of race, age and background. Tuchol and many of the alleged predators used chat and dating apps to talk to people who they believed were underage, trying to meet with the children for sex, authorities said.

Here is the full list of accused predators:

Peter Tuchol Jr., 28, Waldwick

Kevin Roth, 26, Nanuet, N.Y.

Dariush Ghamarnezhad, 37, Pomona, N.Y.

Joel Guichardo, 38, Passaic

Larry Noel Jr., 43, Stanhope

Shaheen Lariff, 49, New City, N.Y.

Rajan Lama, 33, Woodside, N.Y.

Luis Gonzalez Palacio, 36, Weehawken

Roger Arroyo, 37, Philadelphia

Yosef Kriger, 31, New City, N.Y.

Michael Mancini, 36, Hawthorne

Teodoro Alvarez Ortega, 28, Suffern, N.Y.

Jacob Smith, 26, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Jose Martinez, 47, Fairview

Jason Keizer, 33, Garfield

Hareshkum Tailor, 55, Garfield

Members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force set up profiles staging themselves as underage boys and girls on social platforms such as Tinder, Grindr, Kik, Skout, MeetMe and Adam4Adam, where the accused men "typically" initiated contact, the statement read.

Once the conversations began, the undercover officers made it clear that they were underage girls or boys. Despite that supposed knowledge, the accused men allegedly proceeded to initiate sexual conversations and potential meeting locations for sexual encounters, the statement read.

Of those arrested, 13 were taken into custody upon their arrival at a Bergen County apartment where the men were allegedly looking to meet children for sex.

The apartment, described as an "undercover residence" in a statement from the Attorney General's Office, had dozens of law enforcement officers ready to make the arrests.

Some of the alleged predators gave consent for authorities to examine their electronic devices, and warrants were issued for other devices that were to be seized.

Also arrested as part of the sting was Joel Guichardo, 38, of Passaic. Guichardo, a barbershop owner, is accused of attempting to contact a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He was charged with second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault of a minor and third-degree attempted debauching morals of a child.

A Hawthorne supermarket employee was also among the group of accused predators. Michael Mancini, 36, who is also a disc jockey, was charged with luring and attempted sexual assault on a minor for allegedly trying to contact someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Email: zuritaa@northjersey.com