NJ Man Gets Probation After Being Nabbed In Undercover Pedophile Sting In NY

SUFFERN, NY — A New Jersey man was sentenced on charges that he traveled to a local hotel to meet someone he believed to be a 13-year-old boy for sex, according to the Rockland County District Attorney's office.

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced that 55-year-old Carl Ellis, of Maplewood, New Jersey, was sentenced on Wednesday, in Rockland County Court, to 10 years of probation.

"The People recommended a sentence of State Prison, however the Judge imposed a period of probation over our objection," District Attorney Walsh said.

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Ellis, who is now registered as a sex offender, previously pleaded guilty to the entire indictment charging him with one count of second-degree attempted rape, one count of first-degree attempted disseminating indecent materials to minors, and one count of attempted endangering the welfare of a child.

Prosecutors say that earlier this year, between April 6, and April 7, Ellis exchanged several sexually explicit text messages with an undercover investigator from the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. The undercover officer, whom he met online, had been posing as a 13-year-old boy during the exchanges.

On April 7, Ellis arranged to meet the undercover investigator and traveled to the Crown Plaza Hotel in Suffern, to engage in sexual contact. Upon his arrival at the hotel, the NYSP investigators arrested Ellis.

The case was investigated by the NYSP Office Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, the FBI, the Rockland County Sheriff's Office, and the Town of Ramapo Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant DA Gerard M. Damiani III of the Special Victims Unit.