Luring and Enticing Charges Attorney in New Brunswick, NJ

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Attempting to lure or entice a child under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-6 is a second-degree crime carrying 5 to 10 years in state prison, a fine of up to $150,000, Megan’s Law registration and mandatory Parole Supervision for Life. The companion offense, luring any person under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-7, is third degree, 3 to 5 years, and carries none of the sex-offender consequences.

Both are indictable. A luring arrest in Old Bridge, Edison, Woodbridge, Sayreville or anywhere else in the county is prosecuted by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and decided in the Criminal Division of Superior Court at 56 Paterson Street, New Brunswick. William Proetta Criminal Law represents people charged with luring from our Edison office. In more than 15 years of trying criminal cases, I have found that luring cases are won or lost on the exact words in a chat log, and on what the client says in the first hour after arrest. Call (732) 659-9600 before answering any questions.

The Four Things the State Must Prove for Child Luring

Section 2C:13-6 punishes an attempt, which surprises many people. Nothing has to happen at the end of it.

1. An attempt to lure or entice. The statute reaches attempts “by electronic or any other means,” so texts, app messages, social media chats and in-person invitations all qualify. No meeting needs to occur, and the accused need not show up anywhere.
2. A child, or someone the accused reasonably believes is a child. A child is a person under 18. Because a reasonable belief is enough, a “14-year-old” who turns out to be an adult detective still satisfies this element. Whether the belief was reasonable is a question of fact, built from the whole conversation.
3. A destination. The attempt must aim to get the child into a motor vehicle, a structure or an isolated area, or to meet or appear at some place.
4. A criminal purpose. The accused must have intended to commit a criminal offense with or against the child. The prosecutor has to name that offense, and usually names a sexual one.

Sexual conversation that never moves toward a place or a meeting does not fit this statute on its own terms, though prosecutors sometimes charge the same messages as endangering the welfare of a child instead.

Luring an adult (2C:13-7). This offense covers an attempt to lure any person, of any age, into a vehicle, structure or isolated area, or to a meeting, intending to commit a crime against that person or someone else. Nothing in it requires a prior record; a record matters only at sentencing. Because it is not registrable, a plea to 2C:13-7 in place of 2C:13-6 changes a client’s life after the sentence ends.

Luring Sentencing Tiers

A repeat 2C:13-7 offense brings a parole bar of one-third to one-half of the term or 1 year, whichever is greater. A child-luring conviction does not merge with other counts arising from the same conduct; each gets its own sentence.

Consequences of a Child-Luring Conviction, Item by Item

Prison and NERA. Second degree carries a presumption of imprisonment under N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(d). The No Early Release Act does not list luring, so parole eligibility follows the ordinary rules rather than the 85 percent requirement.

Megan’s Law. Section 2C:13-6 is on the registration list in N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(b), with annual address verification. The MCPO Megan’s Law Unit assesses each registrant and proposes a tier, which the designated Superior Court judge reviews. One luring conviction does not trigger the lifetime bar in 2C:7-2(g), so removal can be sought after 15 years without a new offense; a second sex offense conviction closes that door. Our Middlesex Megan’s Law page explains the tier hearing.

Parole Supervision for Life. Mandatory under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4 and starting at release. Internet and device conditions are common, and violating a condition without good cause is a third-degree crime. See the statewide Parole Supervision for Life page.

No Avenel exam. Luring is not on the 2C:47-1 list, so no Department of Corrections sex offender evaluation is required for luring alone.

Expungement. A 2C:13-6 conviction is permanently barred from expungement by N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(b). A 2C:13-7 conviction is not on that list and can be cleared after the waiting period; the New Jersey expungement guide explains the timing.

Statute of limitations. Five years, the general rule for crimes.

Immigration. The effect of a luring plea depends on the offense the record says was intended and whether a real child was involved, and it is not settled in a source we can cite. A non-citizen needs immigration review of the plea wording before it is entered.

How Luring Cases Are Built and Prosecuted in Middlesex County

The MCPO has a dedicated team of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives who investigate technology-facilitated child exploitation across the county, as part of the national ICAC program. Most Middlesex luring cases begin with that unit rather than with a complaint from a family.

The usual sequence is consistent. A profile on a dating app, a chat platform or a social network presents as an adult or does not state an age. Somewhere in the exchange the other user says they are 14 or 15. In an undercover operation, that user is a detective. Messages continue, sometimes for weeks, and a meeting is proposed at a store, a station or a parking area. When the accused arrives, officers make the arrest, seize the phone and usually invite a statement on the spot. A search warrant for the phone and accounts follows, and the forensic download becomes the core of the State’s file. Our guide to phone and digital privacy explains what police can and cannot do with a device.

Cases involving a real child, such as a teenager known through a team or a job, go to the Special Victims Unit, which works with municipal police and may record a forensic interview of the young person.

After arrest, a person is often held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick until a first appearance. Luring does not carry the statutory presumption of detention, so the prosecutor must move for detention and justify it; release on conditions, with no contact with minors and internet limits, is the usual outcome. Before indictment there is often room to talk with the assigned assistant prosecutor, and our post on the pre-indictment conference in Middlesex County explains how that works. If the case is indicted, it proceeds in the Middlesex County Superior Court in New Brunswick.

Is PTI Possible on a Luring Charge?

Not easily under 2C:13-6. Because it is second degree, Rule 3:28-1(d)(1) requires the prosecutor’s consent before a PTI application can even be considered, and N.J.S.A. 2C:43-12(g)(3) requires a guilty plea for admission. An amended charge under 2C:13-7 is third degree and faces neither hurdle, which is why the negotiation over which statute applies usually comes before any diversion discussion. PTI applications in Middlesex are due before the first case disposition conference after arraignment.

Defense Strategies in Luring and Sting Cases

• No destination. If the chat never tried to bring anyone into a vehicle, a building, an isolated area or a meeting, the luring element is missing.
• No identified criminal purpose. The State must prove an intent to commit a specific offense, and vague or fantasy talk may not show one.
• Whether the belief about age was reasonable, or held at all. Profile photos, the platform’s age rules, and when and how the age claim appeared all bear on this element.
• Entrapment. It is a narrow defense, but the order of the messages matters: who first raised sex, who raised age and who pressed for a meeting.
• Attribution. The State must tie the account and the device to this person, not to a shared phone or household.
• The arrest-scene statement and the phone search. Both can be challenged by motion to suppress where warnings were missing or a search went beyond the warrant.

Contact a Middlesex County Luring Defense Attorney

Do not delete messages or accounts, do not contact anyone from the chat, and do not explain yourself to detectives. The chat record already exists; your job now is to stay silent and get counsel. Call William Proetta Criminal Law in Edison at (732) 659-9600, any hour, or reach us online.