Child Predator Sting: Westchester, Rockland Residents Accused of Trying to Lure Children for Sex

By Anthony Zurita
North Jersey Record
April 24, 2019

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2019/04/24/child-predator-sting-arrests/3561863002/

Five Rockland men and one Westchester man are among 16 people who were arrested in a New Jersey sting operation and accused of trying to lure children for sex.

A teacher, a police officer, and a minister are among the men who were arrested between April 11 and 15 in an undercover operation in which law enforcement officers posed as boys and girls on social media, the New Jersey Attorney General said in a statement Wednesday.

The undercover officers used platforms such as Kik, Skout, Grindr, Tinder, MeetMe and Adam4Adam to pose as children and communicate with the men who were arrested, officials said.

Mugshots of some of the 16 men accused of being child predators, nabbed by Operation Home Alone. (Photo: Anthony Zurita/NorthJersey.com)

In a press conference Wednesday, Wednesdaythis morning, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced that "Operation Home Alone" was carried out by a multi-agency task force that included the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, the state police, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, along with others.

Kevin Roth of Nanuet, Dariush Ghamarnezhad of Pomona, Shaheen Lariff and Yosef Kriger of New City, Teodoro Alvarez Ortega of Suffern, and Jacob Smith of New Rochelle were arrested, along with eight New Jersey residents, a New York City resident and a Philadelphia resident, the AG's office said.

Ghamarnezhad, 37; Lariff, 49; and Roth, a 26-year-old teacher at the High School of Computers and Technology in the Bronx; were charged with second-degree luring and attempted second-degree sexual assault on a minor, officials said.

Smith, 26, and Alvarez Ortega, 28, were charged with second-degree luring, attempted second-degree sexual assault on a minor, attempted third-degree debauching morals of a child, and attempted third-degree showing obscene material to a minor.

Kriger, 31, was charged with second-degree luring, attempted second-degree sexual assault on a minor, and attempted third-degree debauching morals of a child.

The arrests were made over a five-day period, where one accused man drove over 100 miles to meet who he thought was a child. Despite the high number of arrests, Grewal acknowledged that many more child sex offenders remain in the area.

"If we extended the investigation, we could catch 16 people a week," Grewal said.

The alleged predators came from three different states and all walks of life, including from positions of power and trust with families and children. Peter Tuchol Jr., a Ridgewood police officer who was arrested last week, was among the accused.

"Our focus was on the protection of our most vulnerable," said acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo.

Roger Arroyo, 37, a traveling minister from Philadelphia, was arrested for attempted criminal sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.

A Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., man who had been accused of possessing child pornography at least twice in five years was also among the mugshots. Last April, Jason Keizer was charged with possession of child pornography in an amount less than 1,000 files. In 2014, Keizer was also charged with possession of child pornography.

At the press conference, 14 of the 16 accused predators mugshots were shown, set up on an easel for those in attendance. The gallery of accused was a spectrum of race, age and background. Tuchol and many of the alleged predators used chat and dating apps to talk to people who they believed to be underage, trying to meet with the children for sex.

Here is the full list of accused predators:

Kevin Roth, 26, Nanuet

Dariush Ghamarnezhad, 37, Pomona

Shaheen Lariff, 49, New City

Yosef Kriger, 31, New City

Teodoro Alvarez Ortega, 28, Suffern

Jacob Smith, 26, New Rochelle

Rajan Lama, 33, Woodside, N.Y.

Peter Tuchol Jr., 28, Waldwick, N.J.

Joel Guichardo, 38, Passaic, N.J.

Larry Noel Jr., 43, Stanhope, N.J.

Luis Gonzalez Palacio, 36, Weehawken, N.J.

Michael Mancini, 36, Hawthorne, N.J.

Jose Martinez, 47, Fairview, N.J.

Jason Keizer, 33, Garfield, N.J.

Hareshkum Tailor, 55, Garfield, N.J.

Roger Arroyo, 37, Philadelphia

Of those arrested, 13 were taken into custody upon their arrival at a Bergen County apartment where the men were allegedly looking to meet children for sex.

Also arrested as part of the sting was Joel Guichardo, 38, of Passaic, N.J. Guichardo, a barbershop owner, is accused of attempting to contact a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He was charged with second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault of a minor and third-degree attempted debauching morals of a child.

A Hawthorne, New Jersey, supermarket employee was also among the group of accused predators. Michael Mancini, 36, who is also a disc-jockey, was charged with luring and attempted sexual assault on a minor for allegedly trying to contact someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Email: zuritaa@northjersey.com