Prosecutors shut down ICE rumors after Pennsauken child luring arrest

🔴 Pennsauken man accused of offering $100 for sex to an undercover cop.

🔴 Authorities said he was arrested with condoms at a local park.

🔴 Prosecutors deny ICE involvement, pushing back on viral social media rumors.

PENNSAUKEN — Prosecutors said a Camden County man who attempted to pay a 14-year-old girl for sex was not arrested by federal immigration officers.

Gustavo Sosa, 31, was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Camden County jail. The Pennsauken man is charged with attempted child luring, attempted sexual assault, attempted prostitution with a minor, all second-degree offenses, and third-degree attempted child endangerment.

Online encounter led to meeting at local park, prosecutors say

According to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, Sosa met someone online on Feb. 3 and arranged to meet at a local park. Office Spokesman Lt. Andrew McNeil said to New Jersey 101.5 that authorities would not yet release which app or website was used.

Officials said that Sosa thought the individual was a 14-year-old girl and offered her money for sex. They agreed to $100 for a half-hour, and Sosa showed up to the park with a new pack of condoms, police said in a criminal complaint.

However, authorities said the teenage girl turned out to be an undercover detective. Sosa was arrested after he was met at the park by officers with the Cherry Hill police and the CCPO.

Prosecutors refute ICE arrest rumors amid immigration tensions

Prosecutors pushed back against rumors swirling on social media that Sosa was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. County prosecutors said ICE was not involved in the arrest.

"The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and our local law enforcement partners adhere to the practices established under the Immigrant Trust Directive issued by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office," the CCPO said in a news release.

The Immigrant Trust Directive, issued in 2018, limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and ICE.

Recent nationwide tensions have fueled speculation surrounding President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement, including where ICE agents are operating and who they're arresting. In Plainfield, police said that rumors about ICE arresting a missing 19-year-old man were untrue.

READ MORE: Concerns grow for missing Connor Oldfield in Plainfield

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