NJ State Trooper Plotted To Sexually Assault Young Girl: AG

A New Jersey State Trooper from South Jersey is accused of plotting with an adult woman to sexually assault a prepubescent girl in an email exchange, authorities said on Thursday.

Trooper Jeffrey Reitz, 47, of Williamstown, is accused of engaging in an email exchange with an adult woman who suggested he sexually assault a prepubescent girl, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Reitz asked the woman to send him a picture of the girl, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The woman sent him a picture of the girl authorities described as “sexually explicit.” He responded by sending the woman a picture of his genitals, authorities said.

He had also emailed a photo of his genitals earlier in the exchange, which is said to have taken place on Dec. 31, 2014, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Authorities said Reitz’s alleged participation in the email exchange was discovered much later, and came as the result of evidence seized in a separate investigation by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

He was arrested and charged with third-degree possession of child pornography on Thursday, following an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau.

Reitz, who is assigned to the Commercial Carrier Safety Inspection Unit, has been suspended by the New Jersey State Police.

If convicted, he faces three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.