The "concerned citizens" who assisted police are members of groups who hunt people down online in a manner similar to the long-running Dateline NBC segment "To Catch A Predator."
A pair of New Jersey Senators say an increase in reported child luring in New Jersey led them to introduce a bill that would set tougher penalties for attempted child abductions. The measure sponsored by Sen. Dick Codey and Sen. Bob Gordon gained the approval of a Senate committee yesterday.
There's been a rash of attempted child luring incidents in Jersey over the past few weeks, which has prompted one lawmaker to introduce a measure to toughen penalties for anyone convicted of trying to abduct or lure a child.
Police in New Milford have received another report of an attempted child luring. It's the latest in nearly a dozen similar incidents in the area since mid-September.
A Morris County accountant was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted luring and attempted endangering after making efforts to have sexual meetings with persons he believed to be 13- and 14-year-old girls, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain.