Officer allegedly sought sex from girl, 12

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PATERSON, N.J., April 26 (UPI) -- A New Jersey police officer charged with soliciting a teen girl for sex texted sexually explicit pictures to her showing him in uniform, a prosecutor said.

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said Woodland Park Officer Steven Vigorito Jr., 39, sent sexually explicit texts to the girl, The Record of Hackensack reported. Vigorito was arrested Tuesday night while he was working a night shift -- hours after a woman complained about the texts sent to her daughter.

Valdes said detectives with her office, posing as the 12-year-old, exchanged texts with Vigorito. Vigorito even sent explicit pictures of himself in uniform and then asked to meet the girl for sex, the prosecutor said.

"The texts, from what I was able to see, were fast and furious and became more explicit as they went," she said. "So we were compelled to act as quickly as we could."

Vigorito could be sentenced to as much as 40 years in prison if convicted. Police Chief Anthony Galietti said Vigorito has been suspended without pay.