Rockland Predator Sting Nets Registered Sex Offender From Sussex, NJ

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A registered sex offender from New Jersey was arrested in an online sexual predator sting conducted by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Special Investigative Unit with assistance from the FBI.

Announcing the arrest of Brian Reed, 33, of Sussex, New Jersey on Friday, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II said Reed is a registered sex offender for a past conviction in New Jersey.

He was indicted by a Rockland County Grand Jury on one count of Attempted Rape in the Second Degree and one count of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree.

He was then transferred into federal custody and will be prosecuted under federal law, Walsh said.

Prosecutors alleged that between May 25 and 26, Reed exchanged numerous text messages, photographs, and phone calls, sexually explicit in nature, with whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met online. In fact, he was communicating with an undercover investigator from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office who was posing as a 13-year-old female child.

Prosecutors alleged Reed set up a meeting at a park in Rockland County to engage in sexual intercourse with the person he thought was 13. They said he traveled over an hour from New Jersey to get to the park, where he was arrested.

The sting was led by Rockland County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the Clarkstown Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Orangetown Police Department, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.

Its goal was to identify persons who engage in sexually explicit communication with children on the internet, arrange to engage in a sex act with a child, and then travel to meet the child for the purpose of having sex.

Reed could face up to 4 years in state prison on each count, prosecutors said.

"This arrest should send a firm and clear message to any individuals thinking about coming to Rockland County to prey on our minors," Walsh said. "You will be arrested and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My office will continue to proactively pursue these predators. I want to thank Chief Wanamaker and the men and women of the Clarkstown Police Department for their
assistance.”