FIREMAN ARRESTED IN NET KID-SEX STING

Ryan Hogan, a 24 year old Brooklyn firefighter, was arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to lure what he thought was a 14 year old girl into having sex. He allegedly did some of the illicit wooing on a firehouse computer at Engine 237 in Bushwick. The teen online was an adult member of a watchdog group called Perverted Justice that patrols Net chat rooms to catch what it calls wanna-be pedophiles. Hogan was released on a $250,000 bond. A crew member from the NBC-TV show Dateline was filming the sting operation with Perverted Justice when Hogan allegedly sent a lurid video image of himself. He allegedly told the undercover, using the screen name cuteashley that he wanted to meet her and engaged in explicit conversation about various sex acts they could perform together. A second adult volunteer also posing as the girl called Hogan on his cell phone and gave him an address. Hogan later said he drove past the house but did not stop because he had spotted a police car outside. Perverted Justice contacted the Fire Department, and an investigation was launched.

(New York)