NJ sex predator abused young girl in international scheme, feds say

🔴 Lodi man faces federal child porn charges

🔴 Accused of faking romantic relationship to access young daughters

🔴 Previous convictions for sex crimes

LODI — A convicted sex offender is accused of grooming a young girl online and manipulating her mom to visit him at his Bergen County apartment, according to federal prosecutors.

Corey Hipscher, 52, of Lodi, is facing federal charges for producing, receiving, and possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.

Hipscher made his first appearance in Newark federal court on Tuesday. He remains detained pending trial.

If convicted, Hipscher could be sentenced to decades in prison plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Accused of faking romantic relationship

Authorities said that in 2020, Hipscher began communicating online with an 11-year-old girl living in a different country. He convinced the young girl to send him naked photos of herself, according to a criminal complaint.

He contacted the girl's mother soon after using a different social media platform and started a supposed romantic relationship with the woman, authorities said. But the disturbing communications with the woman's young daughter didn't stop, the complaint said.

Two years passed before Hipscher convinced the mother, who also lived in another country with her daughter, to visit him in New Jersey, according to the complaint.

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In September 2022, the woman brought her two daughters and son to New Jersey. The first victim, who was then 13 years old, and her younger 9-year-old sister then visited Hipscher's Lodi apartment by themselves, according to the complaint.

Hipscher is accused of taking explicit photos of both girls. He also sexually abused the older sister, according to the complaint.

The girls returned to their home country but then visited Hipscher again in August 2023, prosecutors said. Law enforcement received a tip on Aug. 5, 2023 that the older sister had been sexually abused.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said that they were contacted by the Lodi police on Aug. 6, 2023 about accusations of child sexual abuse.

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The BCPO charged Hipscher last year with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree attempted aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree child endangerment, and two counts of third-degree aggravated sexual contact.

Previous convictions for sex crimes

Hipscher moved to an apartment in Bergen County in 2018, according to Florida's sex offender registry.

He was charged in 2002 with false imprisonment and sexual battery, records show. The victim was his girlfriend at the time, NBC 6 Miami reported.

Seven years later, Hipscher was accused of molesting three young girls at a Florida water park where he worked. Though prosecutors said they and the court "absolutely" believed the girls, a jury acquitted him of the charges in 2012, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

However, Hipscher was reportedly not allowed to have contact with children as part of his probation in the sexual battery case. A judge who said that the evidence against him in the molestation case was strong enough sentenced him to 15 years in prison for violating his probation, according to the report.

“I am not a child molester,” Hipscher reportedly said at the sentencing hearing as he begged for a lighter sentence.

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