Sgt. Richard Conte
Howell police Sgt. Richard Conte, the head of Monmouth County's emergency response team, was arrested on Friday and charged with attempting to lure a child into a motor vehicle. The veteran cop, in a supervisory position, has since been suspended without pay.
Conte was busted on Thursday in a state-wide sting operation setup to catch child predators. This pillar of the community and "protector of the innocent" - whose base salary tops $140,000 - was caught attempting to lure who he thought was a young female child into his car.
On Friday, Conte, 47, was locked up and charged with second-degree attempted luring or enticing of a child and is being held in the Ocean County jail in Toms River.
"Prior to the arrest, I was made aware of the situation," Howell Police Chief Andrew J. Kudrick Jr. said in a statement Friday. "It sickened me to learn one of my officers, a highly competent supervisor none the less and one that I have worked alongside with for many years on the SWAT team, not only defied my trust, but fellow officers as well. But most importantly, defied the public's trust and expectations of a police officer. As such, I fully supported the investigation and provided input to ensure his apprehension."
Comment: What's behind this increase in violent attacks? Just last night 7 people were injured in a Paris knife attack, and, in the last month or so, the links below document just some of the other acts of violence that have occurred throughout Europe: