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Cop Arrested for Prostitute Strip Search

MANCHESTER, N.J. (AP) - A police officer who claimed he was conducting his own

prostitution sting and strip search ended up being the one arrested.

Authorities arrested James Michael Jackson, a police officer with the state

Department of Human Services, and charged him with sexual assault and sexual

misconduct for the so-called sting.

According to authorities, Jackson, 34, of Toms River, arranged through a

service for a woman to meet him Wednesday at a local hotel in Manchester.

When she arrived, Jackson, carrying a badge and gun, told her she was under

arrest. He made her take off her clothes and consent to a body cavity search

before letting her go, said Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Martin Anton.

The prosecutor said Jackson overstepped his bounds as a law enforcement

official when he placed the female prostitute under arrest and performed a

strip search.

As a police officer, Jackson had authority to make arrests, but not through an

undercover operation of his own, Anton said.

"And a male to strip-search a female is just not done," he added.

The woman reported the incident to authorities the next day, after she talked

to law enforcement officers she knew who said Jackson's behavior was illegal.

Jackson had been a police officer with Human Services for about six years. The

department has about 75 officers working in various institutions and

psychiatric hospitals or, in Jackson's case, with children's services case

officers.

Jackson was assigned to the Division of Youth and Family Services' Monmouth

South office in Asbury Park.

Ed Rogan, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, expected that

Jackson would be suspended by Monday, with proceedings leading to his

termination starting soon after.

Jackson, who is free on $50,000 bail, faces five to 10 years in prison if

convicted.

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Information from: Asbury Park Press, http://www.app.com