'Bad Santa' Sting: Police Say 12 Men — Including Teacher, Youth Program Coordinator — Tried to Meet Minor for Sex By Janelle Griffith

A middle school teacher and youth program coordinator are among a dozen New Jersey men accused of attempting to lure and meet a minor for sex, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

As part of a multi-agency sting operation, undercover agents posed as children in conversations on social media and other online messaging applications with the men — who range in age from 23 years old to 65 years old — authorities announced this month.

The men were arrested when they arrived at a residence where they expected to find a child, according to officials. Instead, they were met by several law enforcement officers and arrested over several days between Dec. 8 and Dec. 15, authorities said.

The investigation, called “Operation Bad Santa,” was led by the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the prosecutor’s office and included several local agencies along with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Most of the men were arrested on one count of second-degree luring and one count of third-degree criminal attempt — endangering sexual conduct with a child: Delpis Reynoso-Castro, 26, of New Brunswick; Marcos Aguila, 57, of East Brunswick; Jose Leguia, 57, of Old Bridge; Hareshkumar “Harry” Vala, 44, of Dunellen; Vedant Khandelwal, 38, of Bridgewater; Kevin Knox, 65, of North Brunswick; Cameron Ameye, 33, of Bloomingdale and Joseph Davicsin, 46, of East Brunswick.

Jorge Mora, 52, of Jackson, and Akash Shah, 23, of East Brunswick, also face charges of one count of third-degree criminal attempt — distributing obscene material to a minor.

Raul Angeles, 53, of Asbury Park, was arrested on one count of third-degree criminal attempt —endangering sexual conduct with a child.

James Keating, 59, of Edison, was arrested on one count of third-degree criminal attempt — endangering sexual conduct with a child and one count of third-degree distributing obscene material to a minor.

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According to the prosecutor’s office, Ameye is a program coordinator of Youth Rise, an academic readiness and career pathways program at Passaic County Community College and Davicsin is a middle school teacher in Elizabeth. Their employers did not immediately return requests for comment. Davicsin’s attorney, Michael Chazen, said his client maintains his innocence, and urged people not to rush to judgement. Attorneys for Angeles and Mangano declined to comment.

Attorneys listed in court records for the other men did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment.