Suspended Det. Pleads Guilty for Soliciting Nude Photo of Girl He Believed to be 13

A suspended Madison police detective and Chatham resident pleaded guilty Tuesday to soliciting a nude photo from an undercover detective who he believed was a 13-year-old girl, according to a statement from Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor.

James N. Haspel, 50, faces a prison sentence of seven years under a plea agreement recommended by the state. He will also register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and will be barred from public employment, including his position of detective with the Madison Borough Police Department. He has been on suspension without pay since May 12, 2010.

An undercover detective from the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit posed as the 13-year-old girl. According to Taylor's statement, Haspel solicited the detective to send a nude photo through online communications.

“This case should serve as a deterrent to sexual predators who troll the Internet for victims,” Taylor said. “The New Jersey State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice will remain vigilant to catch and prosecute such predators.”

Haspel admitted asking the "girl" for a nude photo of herself and to communicating with "her" between December 2009 and May 2010. The attorney general statement alleges he sometimes used a computer at Madison Borough Police headquarters while on duty for these communications. The computer was supplied by the Borough of Madison for police business.

New Jersey State Police to the "girl" and that he allegedly sent such videos while attending a training conference for the Madison Police Department in Columbus, Ohio.

“A police officer’s sworn duty is to protect people, but this officer instead used the Internet to prey sexually on a person he believed to be a vulnerable girl,” Dow said in the statement. “Prison is the appropriate sentence for such egregious conduct.”

Haspel was arrested on May 11, 2010 and charged with second-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child before the Hon. Thomas V. Manahan, sitting in Morristown.

Haspel is currently free on $75,000 bail. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 14.