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Essex County resident Carl Ellis, 55, of Maplewood, NJ, was arraigned Wednesday, May 21, in Rockland County Court on an indictment charging him with several felonies, the Rockland County District Attorney's Office announced on Thursday, May 22.
According to Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II, Ellis engaged in sexually explicit text conversations between April 6 and 7, 2025, with an undercover New York State Police investigator posing as a 13-year-old boy. Ellis arranged to meet the "child" in the area of the Crown Plaza Hotel in Suffern with the intention of engaging in sexual contact, prosecutors said.
He was arrested in the hotel's parking lot by members of the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce.
Ellis was one of six men arrested during the multi-agency sting operation announced in April 2025, which targeted individuals suspected of grooming minors for sexual exploitation online. The sting involved the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office, the Town of Ramapo Police Department, and the FBI, in partnership with State Police, as Daily Voice previously reported.
He faces the charges of second-degree attempted rape, one count of first-degree attempted disseminating indecent materials to minors, and one count of attempted endangering the welfare of a child.
Ellis had initially been remanded to jail on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
The case is now being prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Gerard M. Damiani III of the Special Victims Unit.
Correction: It was initially reported that Ellis' arrest took place at the Crown Plaza Hotel based on information provided by the Rockland County District Attorney's Office, when the arrest in fact happened in the building's parking lot, according to a spokesperson from the DA's Office.
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