A Cape May County, N.J. man is accused of attempted sexual assault, obscenity and related charges after he sent obscene sexual images to an underage girl, according to Wildwood Police.
Police say John Denicola Jr., 20, recently reached out to a 13-year-old Wildwood girl Facebook. Investigators say things got graphic Thursday when the suspect sent obscene text messages and photos of himself to the teen -- which her mother discovered.
“I think, more or less, her parents got involved... what they should have done,” Wildwood Police Det. Sgt. Kenneth Gallagher told NBC10 News. “They went right to the police department.
Police and the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office set up a sting. Authorities say detectives, pretending to be the 13-year-old, kept communicating with Denicola, who continued sending explicit pictures.
Investigators say he arranged to meet the middle schooler at a Wildwood intersection for sex on Sunday but, when he showed up, police were there to arrest him.
“There was no doubt that that individual was intending to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.”
Denicola was arrested and was being held Tuesday night on $75,000 cash bail. He was also ordered to have no contact with his alleged victim.
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The allegations against Denicola have stunned his neighbors on Magnolia Avenue in Wildwood.
“That’s scary. Especially with Facebook, it is a really scary thing, an easy way to get to people,” neighbor Nicole Curran said.
