A Portsmouth, New Hampshire assistant track coach was arrested last month in South Portland as part of a child prostitution sting operation after he allegedly tried to solicit sex from a 14-year-old girl.
Joseph Auger, 27, allegedly brought $150 in cash to a Best Western hotel in South Portland, intending to use it to purchase sex from a 14-year-old girl.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents posted a fake advertisement on a website known for child sex trafficking, along with a sexually explicit message and a phone number.
Auger allegedly texted multiple times, called the number twice, and spoke to a DHS agent posing as the 14-year-old’s sister. According to the DHS, he initially texted that the situation was “kind of messed up” before texting again from a separate number.
He allegedly arrived at the hotel and paid $150 to a DHS agent, who then gave him a key card to the hotel room before he was arrested.
According to court documents reviewed by WMUR, Augur allegedly told investigators that this was not the first time he answered an ad from that website. Strangely, he also allegedly claimed that he was actually trying to rescue the minor from sex trafficking, before reportedly admitting that he intended to have sex with her and that this was his first time trying to have sex with a girl he found on the website.
Auger was fired from his position at the Portsmouth school.
“At this time, we have no indication that any Portsmouth School Department students were involved in the reported incident. The alleged conduct did not occur on school grounds, and law enforcement is currently handling the investigation,” said Portsmouth Superintendent Zach McLaughlin.
This is not the first time an NH teacher has been caught soliciting sex from a minor as part of a sting operation. Last year, the 46-year-old Stacey Ray Lancaster, a Manchester, NH teacher, was arrested after allegedly trying to solicit sex from what she believed to be a 12-year-old girl.
