Mark Allan, 56 caught luring girl at library

A Tuckerton NJ man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to luring a 12-year-old girl at the public library, authorities said.

Mark Allan, 56, admitted to second-degree luring, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

Allan approached the girl at the Stafford Public Library on Feb. 7, 2014 and handed her a note requesting that she go to the movies with him, the prosecutor’s office said.

Prosecutor’s office Detective Jason Steele and Stafford police Detective Drew Smith then posed as the 12-year-old girl in an undercover operation and exchanged text messages with the man via the phone number he provided on the note, authorities said. The next day, Allan went back to the library to meet who he believed was the girl, but instead was arrested.

Allan was taken to the Ocean County Jail after his arrest in lieu of $100,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office said. His sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 14.