1FREEHOLD, NJ — A disgraced former New Jersey State Trooper admitted in court last week to trying to pay for sex with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl, after arriving for the meeting in his police-issued vehicle in Freehold last summer.

Shane H. Dempsey, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted sexual assault and third-degree official misconduct during a hearing held before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn. His arrest followed a sting operation launched by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office after an undercover detective posed as a teenage girl on the social media app Whisper.

While monitoring activity on the platform, the detective was contacted by Dempsey, who attempted to solicit explicit images and expressed interest in paying for a sexual

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