NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Queens deacon used Grindr to send sexually explicit texts to an undercover detective he thought was a teenage boy before attempting to meet up with him for sex, prosecutors say.
Rogelio Vega, 50, of Maspeth, started using Grindr to chat with a detective he believed to be a 14-year-old boy on July 22 of last year, the Queen's District Attorney's Office said in a release on Friday.
Vega not only sent sexually explicit messages to the "boy" over the course of several months, but also asked him to send nude photos, prosecutors said.
He also sent photos of his genitals and asked to meet the boy in person for sex, according to prosecutors.
Vega was arrested after he drove to an unspecified spot in Queens to meet up with the boy, prosecutors said. He could face up to seven years in prison if he is convicted.
The Maspeth resident, who is reportedly a deacon at St. Sebastian Church in Woodside, faces charges including attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, second-degree attempted criminal sexual act, first-degree attempted disseminating indecent material to a minor and attempted endangering the welfare of a child, the DA's office said.
"This defendant by all outward appearances is a church-going family man," District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. "Sadly, the real person under the sheep's clothing is an alleged sexual predator who sought out a teenage boy to fulfill his needs."
His attorney information wasn't immediately available Friday.
