Stratford Firefighter Sought Sex With Woman, Underage Daughter: Prosecutor

A Captain at the Stratford Volunteer Fire Department was hit with various sexual assault charges after he allegedly showed up for what he believed was a meeting to have sex with a woman and her underage daughter that he had met online, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Mount Laurel Police Chief Dennis Cribben Jr. announced.

In reality, 39-year-old Jesse M. Kopala, of Stratford, had been communicating with a detective from the Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit.

When Kopala arrived at the pre-arranged location, he was arrested by Mount Laurel Police.

He was charged with criminal attempted sexual assault and criminal attempted endangering the welfare of children.

He was lodged in Burlington County Jail on $75,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

The investigation began when Kopala, who is also a delivery truck driver, began talking to the detective online. Kopala indicated that he wanted to have sex with the underage girl and wanted the mother to participate, too.

The joint investigation was conducted by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mount Laurel Police Department and the Stratford Police Department.

The BCPO is a member of the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and also the New Jersey State Police Cyber Terrorism Task Force.

The attached image of Jesse Kopala was provided by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office