Pervert Tutor Tried To Lure 13-Year-Old For Sex, Police Say

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A home-school tutor tried to meet a 13-year-old girl at a Manhattan diner on Valentine's Day with the plan of going back to her apartment for sex, authorities said.

The tutor, Jeffrey Weber, was arrested when he showed up at the diner, police said. Weber, a 59-year-old Long Island man, was caught in an organized sting by a law enforcement officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. The child did not exist, police said.

Authorities are trying to figure out if Weber has preyed on additional teenagers, according to the NYPD. Investigators released his picture hoping that any victims will recognize him and come forward.

In the photograph he's wearing a T-shirt which reads: “My girlfriend is the coolest, sweetest, most gorgeous woman I have ever seen. She is my best friend and my life.”

Weber was wearing the T-shirt on Wednesday when he was arrested.

Weber began texting an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl in January, sending her sexts and sexually explicit emails, police said. Weber told the agent in an email that he was a tutor who primarily worked in the homes of at-risk youth, according to authorities.

Weber made plans with the undercover agent to meet at diner in Downtown Manhattan on Valentine's Day morning, where he was arrested by officers.

"The suspect in this case—a 59-year-old Long Island man—is accused of sending sexually-explicit texts and emails to an investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl. But this crime wasn't confined to cyberspace," NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said in a statement. "The man was arrested yesterday at a diner in Manhattan, where his plan was to meet the underage girl and take her elsewhere for sex."

Weber faces one federal charge of attempted enticement, along with charges of rape, attempted criminal sex act and attempting to act in a manner injurious to a child.

Patch was not immediately able to locate or contact an attorney for Weber on Friday morning. Weber is a Seaford, New York resident.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPD