U.S. Navy Petty Officer Toting Teddy Went To Meet Agent Posing As Teen On LI: Feds

VALLEY STREAM, NY — A U.S. Navy petty officer was nabbed Saturday in a sting operation after he showed up at the Long Island Rail Road station in Valley Stream carrying a teddy bear after arranging to meet what he thought was a teen girl, a complaint filed in federal court shows.

In the complaint, which was published by CourtListener.com, Special Agent Colleen Sheehan writes that she posed as a 13-year-old girl on the mobile messaging application, Whisper. 2, on Dec. 6, and was contacted by a man with the username,"bleepbloorp," later identified as Douglas Engstrom, in response to a post that she no longer needed dental braces.

The app allows users to anonymously send and receive messages, photos, videos, and other content.

In multiple messages with Engstrom, Sheehan said she was a 13-year old girl "in school," and he told her is name was Doug, that he was 36 years old, lived in Maryland, and worked for the Navy, she wrote.

Engstrom "expressed interest in engaging in sexual conduct with me," and later gave his cell phone number and "continued making similar statements to me via text message," according to Sheehan.

"In text messages, he expressed interest in having oral, anal, and vaginal sex with me, including while I was unconscious," Sheehan wrote.

Engstom was identified based on information associated with the cell phone number, as well as facial photographs, according to Sheehan.

He is a data and network analyst at Fort Meade, according to documents.

Sheehan told him that she lived in Valley Stream and Engstrom planned to meet with her on Saturday "to engage in the sexual conduct" described in the messaging, she wrote, adding that two days before Engstrom told her that he had booked a hotel and flight tickets.

On that Saturday, Engstrom was surveilled arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport, then taking an Uber to the train station, showing up with "a large teddy bear" that Sheehan had asked him to bring in a previous message, she wrote.

Engstrom, of Hanover, MD, is being held without bond, a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Patch has reached out to the Navy, as well as Engstrom's legal defense for comment.