According to WPVI-TV, 24 menâincluding a firefighter, a nurse, and a police sergeantâhave been arrested in a sting operation targeting alleged child predators in New Jersey.
The state attorney general's office announced on Tuesday that "Operation Open House" lured the suspects through social media to a home where they allegedly expected to find an underage girl or boy interested in having sex.
Instead, they found the police.
"It is disturbing that some of the alleged child predators from this operation held positions of public service and authority, but behind closed doors they went through great lengths to avoid detection online, frequenting social media sites with the sole purpose of targeting unsuspecting children," said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police.