Four men from Camden and Gloucester counties were arrested Tuesday after arranging to meet who they thought was an underage girl, only to find out the "girl" was an undercover detective with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit. Brooklawn Borough police and detectives from the prosecutor’s office took the men into custody at the agreed meeting spot, officials said.
Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay said the online conversations and planned meetups took place between March and June, and that each man separately engaged with the undercover profile. As reported by Daily Voice, Richard Williamson, 69, of Sewell; Gilbert Wylen, 69, of Audubon; and Daniel Henderson, 38, of Lindenwold were charged with attempting to lure a child, attempted sexual assault, attempted prostitution with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. Theodore Haviland, 52, of Woodland Heights, was charged with attempting to lure a child, attempted endangering the welfare of a child and attempted sexual assault of a minor, authorities said.
Part Of A Broader Online Sting Effort
The prosecutor’s High Tech Crimes Unit has been running undercover profiles across Camden County this year to identify adults seeking sexual encounters with minors. A county press release describing a May 14 sting in West Deptford outlines the same strategy, with an undercover detective posing as a minor and coordinating with local police to make arrests, and reporting in February detailed a similar Pennsauken case. Together, those examples show a sustained pattern of enforcement across the county.
According to a Camden County press release and coverage from NJ 101.5, the office has leaned on undercover online operations to stop alleged attempts before any real victim is put at risk.
Charges And Legal Context
The men face a mix of second- and third-degree charges under New Jersey law, including attempting to lure a child and attempted sexual assault, counts that prosecutors treat as especially serious given the alleged conduct. Attempting to lure a child is prosecuted under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-6 as a second-degree offense, which can carry multi-year prison exposure if convictions follow, according to the legislature and legal analyses. For readers interested in the statutory language, the state legislature’s bill text sets out the details of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-6.
The arrests were carried out by members of the Brooklawn Borough Police Department with assistance from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, which announced the case Tuesday. As reported by Daily Voice, investigators said the men agreed to meet at a specific Brooklawn location and were taken into custody there. Court processing and arraignment dates were not immediately available.
