Ex-State Trooper Pleads Guilty To Attempted Sexual Assault Of A Child

Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 9:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

FREEHOLD, NJ.- A 32-year-old former New Jersey State Trooper will be facing up to seven years in New Jersey State Prison, after pleading guilty last week to attempting to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl and official misconduct.

     According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, last week, Shane H. Dempsey, 32, of Brick, New Jersey, a former and disgraced New Jersey State Trooper, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn to one count of Attempted Sexual Assault; and third-degree Official Misconduct.

     In return for the guilty plea, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend that Dempsey be sentenced to seven years in New Jersey State Prison. After entering his guilty plea, Judge Butehorn accepted the plea and tentatively scheduled sentencing for November 21, 2025. At that time, Dempsey will be sentenced under the terms of the negotiated plea agreement.

According To Charging Documents Filed With The Court

     According to court documents, an investigation was launched last year by a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective who was monitoring the social media application Whisper. While on the application, the undercover Detective was contacted by another user, later identified as Dempsey, who attempted to solicit sexually explicit images and expressed a desire to pay money in exchange for a sex act from a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl and arranged to meet her.

     When Dempsey arrived for a purported meeting with the teen girl in his Police vehicle, he was taken into custody and charged.

     During last week’s plea hearing, Judge Butehorn executed a court order forfeiting Dempsey’s public position and barring him from any future public employment in New Jersey for life. In addition, when sentenced, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office will request that Dempsey serve a mandatory minimum of two years before becoming eligible for parole, as well as be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and be subject to parole supervision for life.