Tuckerton Man Pleads Guilty To Luring 12-Year-Old At Stafford Library

A Tuckerton man has pleaded guilty to second degree luring after he approached a young girl at the Stafford branch of the Ocean County Library and asked her to go to the movies with him, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said..

Mark Allan, 56, of Tuckerton, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday before Ocean County Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels. He will be sentenced on Aug. 14. Allan has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since the Feb. 7, 2014 incident, in lieu of $100,000, bail, said Al Della Fave.

The plea stems from a case investigated by Ocean County Prosecutor‘s Office Detective Jason Steele and Stafford Police Detective Drew Smith. Allan approached the 12-year-old victim in the library and handed her the note. But Smith and Detective Jay Smith soon began an undercover investigation posing as the girl, Della Fave said.

Allan communicated with the undercover officers with a text message at the telephone number he had written on the note to the victim. Allan came back to the library the next day, thinking he was meeting the 12-year-old. Instead he was greeted by an undercover officer, who took him into custody without incident, he said.

The Stafford Township Patrol Division and Stafford Township Drug Enforcement Unit also assisted in the investigation, Della Fave said.

Photo credit: Ocean County Corrections Department