By Rebecca Everett | For NJ.com

Don't Edit

It might be via social media, on an app, Xbox, or an online chat room where youth talk about their favorite video game. Pedophiles are there too, trolling for children, ready to groom them with casual conversation. It then turns to sexual talk, until they agree to meet up for sex.

But sometimes, when they arrive at the park or hotel or airport to meet the child, they are actually meeting several police officers, and out come the handcuffs.

Across New Jersey, undercover detectives are posing as children on websites, apps and other online spots, carrying out luring stings that see perpetrators arrested, and often convicted, jailed and marked as sex offenders.

Don't Edit

Then Attorney General Christopher Porrino in 2016 announces that police are looking for more potential victims of Ethan Chandler, whom they arrested in a 2016 sting.

How it works

The detectives working on some of the most high-profile arrests are from the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit in Hamilton, Mercer County.

State Police Detective Sgt. Paul Sciortino has been working to catch online predators for six years and estimates that the number of conversations he’s engaged in with adults is “in the thousands.” Much fewer end in convictions, he said.

Police that do this kind of work are trained to adhere to strict standards set by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, or ICAC. They keep up on the latest ways predators are reaching out to children, whether its a new app or website. Then a detective comes up with a child's backstory, creates a profile in the online community, and waits.

The detective cannot start a conversation with an adult, or it would be considered entrapment and could never result in a conviction, Sciortino said.

Don't Edit

“They’ll just approach,” he said. “At that point you can engage in conversation.”

Also to avoid entrapment issues, the detective has to wait for the adult to bring up sexual things, he said. Officers can reply, but can’t engage in “dirty talk” or send any pictures. “They lead the conversation and you answer.”

If the adult cuts off the conversation, the detective can’t try to get them to keep engaging, he said. But sometimes, a conversation seems concluded, and then the adult will start messaging again weeks later, he said.

Don't Edit

Sciortino said posing as a child is strange, but playing the part of an adult interested in trafficking a kid — like a parent offering his child for sex in exchange for money — is “horrific.”

Understandably, not everyone is cut out for this kind of police work. He said that while many in the DTIU are trained in how to carry out the stings, much fewer actually do it.

The detectives are advised to find ways to destress and dissociate from the conversations, he said. One tip is for a detective to never have personal photos — like of his or her kids — in the area where they’re working on a computer. But the conversations don’t always end when you clock out, he said.

“It never ends,” Sciortino said. “From 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., my phone will go off, at dinner, at home.”

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Sometimes the conversations last just a few minutes, and others drag out for over a year. And for some, they never actually arrange a meeting. “For some it’s a fantasy, and they don’t actually do it,” he said.

He said as much as 95 percent of the conversations are with adults who are from out of state. In two cases — detailed below — he traveled out of state to make arrests of men who believed they were buying sex with children, he said.

We've collected some of the most high-profile arrests involving online luring stings in the past few years. Check them out below to see who landed in prison and who is still fighting the charges.

Don't Edit

George Castillo (Attorney General)

Man thought he was buying little girls online

Name: George Castillo

Charges: Castillo of Inglewood, California was one of the 79 arrests made in the New Jersey State Police's Operation Safety Net in 2017. According to the Attorney General's Office, Castillo, then 36, arranged online to pay a person he believed was a human trafficker to bring a 4-year-old girl to Los Angeles for sex, but it was actually a State Police detective.

At the same times, the Attorney General’s Office said, he had also been communicating with an undercover detective from Washington, D.C. who was posing as a father who would bring his 9-year-old daughter to Los Angeles for sex.

Castillo arrived at Los Angeles International Airport April 4, 2017, expecting to meet the two girls and their escorts, the office said. Instead, he was arrested on charges including transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and production of child pornography and conspiracy to commit child trafficking.

Where the case is now: Sciortino said Castillo accepted a 50-year plea deal in California and will face similar charges in federal court in New Jersey.

Don't Edit

Harold L. Gordner II (Attorney General)

Highland Park man charged in sting... again

Name: Harold L. Gordner II

Charges: Gordner, 40, of Highland Park, a registered sex offender, believed he was chatting online with a 14-year-old boy for a month, sending him explicit photos and links to pornography, according to the Attorney General's Office.

He eventually arranged for them to meet May 18 at John F. Kennedy Park in Sayreville, where he was arrested, authorities said. He has been indicted on charges including luring and disseminating obscene material to a minor.

Records show Gordner was convicted in a similar sting in 2003 and served jail time in Pennsylvania. He was also convicted of criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child in a 2003 incident involving a 15-year-old in Middlesex County, records show.

Where the case is now: Gordner was released pending trial and his case is being presented to a grand jury, according to court records.

Don't Edit

Richard Boydston (Sussex County Prosecutor)

Sting uncovers years of abuse, authorities say

Name: Richard Boydston

Charges: Boydston, 64, of Vernon Township, thought he had met a 14-year-old girl on the website Chatstep.com, but the person he started sending explicit messages to was an undercover detective, according to the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office.

He was charged with attempted sexual assault, luring, endangering the welfare of a child and attempted criminal sexual contact, authorities said.

Less than a month after his arrest in that case, authorities arrested him again May 1, 2017, saying they had uncovered information that Boydston had been sexually assaulting three young girls for years. He was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and three counts of second-degree sexual assault, according to the prosecutor's office.

Where the case is now: Boydston was indicted in both cases. No new court date was listed for him in online court records.

Don't Edit

Heriberto Rivera Jr. (Camden County Prosecutor)

Wal-Mart employee charged with luring '14-year-old'

Name: Heriberto Rivera Jr.

Charges: Rivera, 31, of Oaklyn in Camden County, believed he was luring a 14-year-old girl to meet in Gloucester City in February for a sexual encounter, but he was actually talking online to an undercover detective from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office's High-Tech Crimes Unit, according to the prosecutor.

Rivera, who was then a Wal-Mart employee, was arrested at the meeting spot. He was indicted in May on charges of luring, attempted sexual assault, attempt to endanger the welfare of a child, attempted criminal sexual contact and attempt to send obscene material to a minor, the office said.

He was on probation from a 2015 conviction of possessing child pornography, court records show.

Where the case is now: Rivera was released after his arrest and does not have a next court date scheduled.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Robert Elmi (Attorney General)

Man placed Craigslist ad seeking relationship with young girl

Name: Robert Elmi

Charges: Elmi, 64, of Gillette in Morris County, believed he was luring a 13-year-old girl for sex when an undercover detective responded to his ad on Craigslist seeking a relationship with a young girl. They texted and emailed, with Elmi telling the "girl" that they would drink, watch TV and perform oral sex on each other, the Attorney General's Office said.

He was arrested Nov. 9 at the Union County diner where he expected to meet the girl.

Where the case is now: Elmi pleaded guilty in January to luring a child and was sentenced in March to three years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender.

Don't Edit

Isaac Torrey (Attorney General)

Trenton man allegedly tried to meet boy in park

Name: Isaac M. Toney

Charges: Toney, 41, of Trenton used a mobile app to solicit an undercover detective whom he believed was a 14-year-old boy, according to the Attorney General's Office. On July 17, 2017, he went to Veterans Park in Hamilton, where he had planned to meet the boy for oral sex, but was arrested instead. He was charged with luring a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Where the case is now: Prosecution of the case was transferred from the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office to the Attorney General's Office. Toney has had no court dates since late 2017, and the Attorney General's Office had no update on how the case was going.

Don't Edit

Joseph Donohew (Attorney General)

Indiana man tried to buy 9-year-old

Name: Joseph Donohew

Charges: Donohew, 26, of Brownsburg, Indiana, was also arrested in Operation Safety Net. The Attorney General's Office said he offered money via a chat program to an undercover State Police detective posing as a father selling his 9-year-old girl for sex. Donohew even sent $100 as a "down payment" to bring the girl to Indiana.

He arranged to meet the supposed father and daughter July 13, 2017 at a gas station in Indiana, and brought a nightgown for the girl, the office said. He was arrested there on charges including attempted child molestation.

Where the case is now: Donohew pleaded guilty to human sexual trafficking in Indiana in March and received a 25-year prison sentence, according to prison records. In New Jersey, court records show he pleaded guilty to distributing obscene material to a minor June 28. He is scheduled to be sentenced on that charge Sept. 14.

Don't Edit

Charles Amer (Camden County Prosecutor)

EMT traveled from Pennsylvania to meet "girl," authorities say

Name: Charles Amer

Charges: Amer, 46, of Warminster, Pennsylvania was still wearing his EMT uniform when he traveled to Pennsauken Feb. 16, believing he was meeting with a 14-year-old girl, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Instead, he was arrested on charges including attempted sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual contact and attempted endangering the welfare of a child.

The prosecutor’s office did not reveal how Amer began communicating with the undercover detective he believed was a teenager, but said he sent sexually explicit text messages and arranged the meeting.

Where the case is now: Amer, who was released with conditions, has not been indicted, according to online court records. No next court date was listed in court records.

Don't Edit

Michael Camacho (Monmouth County Prosecutor)

Girl, 11, reported 54-year-old was texting her, police said

Name: Michael J. Camacho

Charges: Ocean Township police began investigating Camacho, 54, formerly of Lake Como in Monmouth County, after an 11-year-old girl reported that he had been texting her. An undercover detective started keeping up the conversation instead of the girl, and Camacho sent explicit photos of himself, asked for photos in return and tried to arrange a meeting, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities arrested him in Massachusetts and he was brought to New Jersey to face charges.

Where the case is now: Camacho was indicted in January on charges of luring, two counts of attempted endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of attempted endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of attempted distribution of obscene material to a minor. He is being held in jail and his next court date is Aug. 6, according to court records.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Ethan Z. Chandler (Attorney General)

Youth sports videographer sexually assaulted boy, police say

Name: Ethan Z. Chandler

Charges: Chandler, 44, who ran a youth sports video production company out of his Belleville home, was charged in 2016 with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy, whom he met using a popular social networking app, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The alleged assault came to light after an undercover State Police detective exchanged explicit messages with Chandler via the mobile chat app Kik, the office said. The detective responded to a Craigslist ad Chandler had posted soliciting oral sex from a young man, asking, "How young is too young?," authorities said. Chandler allegedly answered, "Don't matter."

They arranged to meet, but Chandler didn't show, and he was arrested Dec. 1, 2016 when police searched his house, officials said. Police said they found evidence that he had sex with a 14-year-old boy in the apartment on at least three occasions, the office said.

Where the case is now: Chandler, who is out on bail, was indicted in 2017 on charges of luring a child, sexual assault of a minor and criminal sexual contact. His next court date is Sept. 7.

Don't Edit

Craig Kirschner (Attorney General)

Monmouth County man allegedly used Grindr to find boy

Name: Craig Kirschner

Charges: Kirschner, 40, of Marlboro, encountered an undercover Bayonne officer posing as a 15-year-old boy on the mobile app Grindr and asked to meet for oral sex, according to the Attorney General's Office. He also sent him a photo of his genitals and said he could be "generous for your trouble," authorities said.

He was arrested on Aug. 21, 2017 and, according to court records, indicted in April on charges including luring, attempt to engage in sexual assault of a victim 13 to 15, attempt to sexually assault a minor, and conveying obscene material to a mino, and attempt to endanger a child by sexual conduct.

Where the case is now: Kirschner applied for pretrial intervention but his application was rejected in June, court records show. He is back in Superior Court in Monmouth County for a final disposition conference July 31.

Don't Edit

Philip R. Carry (Attorney General)

Man 'bombarded' 15-year-old with texts about having sex

Name: Philip R. Carry

Charges: Belleville police received a report in May 2015 that a man later identified as Carry, 62, of Fair Lawn, was "bombarding" a 15-year-old girl with sexually explicit text messages, according to the Attorney General's Office. Carry knew the girl through one of her relatives, authorities said.

A State Police detective posed as the girl and continued texting Carry, who tried to arrange a time to have sex with the girl, the office said.

Where the case is now: Carry pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of endangering the welfare of a child and showing obscene material to a minor and was sentenced on Sept. 29, 2017 to 120 days in county jail. He was released in December 2017.

Don't Edit

Pedro Rodriguez (Dept. of Corrections)

Camden man admits trying to meet girl by lake

Name: Pedro Rodriguez

Charges: The Camden County Prosecutor's Office High Tech Crimes Unit in 2017 began monitoring online attempts by Rodriguez, 26, of Camden, to meet juveniles for sex, the office said. An undercover detective posed as a 14-year-old girl and met him in Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, where he was arrested in June 2017.

Where the case is now: Rodriguez pleaded guilty to attempting to lure a child and was sentenced in September to five years in prison.

Don't Edit

Read more about sex crimes in New Jersey

'Unspeakable': 79 charged in N.J. with child predator crimes

These are 17 of the highest-risk sex offenders the state can't find

How N.J. determines which sex offenders are dangerous, explained

Which 11 N.J. cities have the most sex offenders and why?

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips