Underage Sex Sting Busts School Crossing Guard In Queens: DA

QUEENS, NY — An undercover sting busted a Queens school crossing guard who tried to have sex with a cop he believed was a 14-year-old girl, prosecutors said.

Jared Jeridore, 24, faces multiple sex crimes, including attempted rape, following his Tuesday arrest in a Jamaica hotel, where he showed up with condoms after arranging what he thought was a sexual meetup with an underage girl, authorities said.

But the meetup was the culmination of an elaborate undercover investigation by NYPD officers, who authorities said had received complaints from underage students at a Jamaica school about their crossing guard: Jeridore.

"Young people need to be able to trust the adults who are charged with keeping them safe," said Melinda Katz, district attorney for Queens, in a statement.

"This defendant is accused of violating that trust with someone he thought was a teenager. His arrest should serve as a warning to any sexual predator who thinks they will not be caught and held responsible."

The undercover probe began March 28, when an officer posing as a 14-year-old girl met Jeridore near the school at 108th Avenue and 167th Street, prosecutors said.

The pair eventually exchanged Instagram screen names April 18, a day when Jeridore also interlocked his arm with the undercover officer's as he walked her to a bus stop, authorities said.

Jeridore — who believe the girl to be 14 with an upcoming birthday on April 20 — that night had a video call with the undercover cop and asked her to join him in a sexual act, prosecutors said.

He continued to text another undercover officer — who posed as the first one — from April 18 to April 21, describing potential sexual interactions and sending nude photos and a sexually explicit video, officials said.

The first undercover officer then received multiple calls Tuesday from Jeridore asking her to meet at a Van Wyck Expressway hotel for sex, authorities said.

Cops arrested Jeridore when he showed up at the hotel room, and found he had three condoms, prosecutors said.

Jeridore appeared Wednesday for arraignment on charges of third-degree attempted rape, attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, attempted endangering the welfare of a child, official misconduct and three counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail with non-monetary conditions, court records show. He's next scheduled to appear in court June 7.