An undercover police officer, whom the Queens man thought to be a 14-year-old girl, was lured into a sexual act by the guy, who worked as a crossing guard at a school. He was charged with attempted rape and other offenses on Wednesday, according to officials.
According to Queens district attorney Melinda Katz, Jared Jeridore faces charges related to attempted sexual performance with a child, attempted distribution of pornographic material to minors, and governmental misconduct.
“Young people need to be able to trust the adults who are charged with keeping them safe,” Ms. Katz stated in a statement. “This defendant is accused of violating that trust with someone he thought was a teenager.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Jeridore, 24, of Jamaica, appeared in person before Queens Criminal Court Judge Julieta Lozano. She commanded him to appear in court again in June. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Mr. Jeridore’s attorney.
School crossing guards work as part-time employees of the Police Department and are paid $18 per hour. According to a police spokeswoman, Mr. Jeridore, a Jamaican who worked close to a school, was arrested on Wednesday, suspended from his job, and then quit. How long he had worked as a crossing guard was unknown.
According to a criminal complaint, the undercover investigation got underway after minors lodged complaints about Mr. Jeridore with the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Police Department.
According to the complaint, Mr. Jeridore was met by an undercover police officer on the morning of March 28 at a Jamaica junction, roughly one block away from a secondary school, in the guise of a 14-year-old female.
The complaint identifies an address that is owned by York Early College Academy but does not name the school.
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The accusation states that on April 18, the undercover agent and Mr. Jeridore switched Instagram screen identities. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Jeridore clasped the officer’s arm as they strolled together that afternoon from the same junction to a neighboring bus stop.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Jeridore and the police had a video conversation about 11:30 that evening. According to the complaint, Mr. Jeridore asked the officer to participate in a sex act, thinking that she was 14 years old and about to turn 15.
According to the accusation, Mr. Jeridore used Instagram to send messages to a second officer who was impersonating the first one over the course of several days.
According to the complaint, he emailed the officer explicit video and nude images, describing the kind of sexual encounters he hoped to have.
According to the complaint, Mr. Jeridore called the first undercover officer multiple times on Tuesday and requested that they meet for sex at a nearby hotel. As Mr. Jeridore arrived, officers took him into custody, the lawsuit said.
