Rockland DA Successfully Catfishes Registered Sex Offender

Brian Reed recieved an unpleasnt supirse last month, when he discovered that  a 13 year old girl he had arranged to meet was in fact an undercover investigator with the Rockland County Dstricit Attorneys Office. Reed, 33, of Sussex, New Jersey is a registered sex offender who was previously convicted  in the Garden State, before once again runing afoul of the law.  As a result of a succseful sting operation conducted by Rockland County District Attorney’s Special Investigative Unit, Reed was indicted by a Rockland County Grand Jury on one count of Attempted Rape in the Second Degree (PL Sec. 110.00/130.30(1)) and one count of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree (PLSec. 110.00/235.22).

The charges stem from a series of text messages Reed unwittingly exchanged with the Special Investigative Unit “on or about May 25, 2022, and May 26, 2022” according to a statment shared by the DA’s office. “The defendant 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,” according to the statment. Reed planned to meet with the  “child” to engage in sexual intercourse with her at a park in Rockland County, traveling over an hour from New Jersey only to be immedatly apprheneded by investagtors.

The undercover investigation was led by Rockland County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the Clarkstown Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Orangetown Police Department, and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office. Reed can face up to eight years in state prison for his actions.

Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh said, “This arrest should send a firm and clear message to any individuals thinking about coming to Rockland County to prey on our minors” waarned Districit Attorney Tom Walsh. “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.”Brian Reed has been transferred into federal custody and will be prosecuted underfederal law. The state indictment was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Gerry Damiani.