Retired New York radio host Dave Herman was arrested this week for allegedly trying to set up an encounter with a 7-year-old girl, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced Friday.
The 77-year old Herman was a longtime rock and roll DJ at the FM station WNEW, and a radio fixture for listeners throughout the five boroughs, who offered up a steady diet of Bruce Springsteen songs.
Prosecutors say he was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands by Homeland Security agents where he had arranged to meet a young girl. In a series of web chats he allegedly told an undercover officer from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey that he wanted to have sex with her fictitious daughter.
Click here for the full complaint
“Age 6 is the perfect time to start her being loved that way,” Herman purportedly told the officer. “I find girls that age incredibly sexy, soft, and their innocence is also a huge turn on for me.”
He also allegedly said that he would have to be “forceful” with her, but would try not to hurt her daughter, and graphically described the types of sexual activity he would like to engage in with the young girl.
Also read: Republican Dropped Over ‘Daily Show’ Comments Uses N-Word Again
The investigation took place over a period of months, during which Herman attempted to arrange illegal sexual encounters with the child in New York and Bergen County, N.J.
In early 2013, Herman told the undercover agent that he would pay to fly them down to St. Croix so that he could engage in sexual activity with the daughter.
Prosecutors are charging Herman with attempting to transport a minor across state lines with the intention of engaging in illegal sexual activity. He faces between 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine if convicted.