An Ocean County sex predator is being sent to prison for up to seven years for trying to have sex with a 15-year-old boy who didn’t even exist.

But there probably was no doubt that 48-year-old Thomas K. Blumensteel would have been capable of depraved acts with a child: In the late 1990s he did time for raping a 13-year-old boy who knew him as a church counselor.

In the latest case, the Manchester resident pleaded guilty in September to second-degree luring after being arrested a year earlier in a statewide sting.

He was sentenced Friday in a deal that will keep him locked up for at least five years and then subject him to parole supervision for life and require him to register as a sex offender after his release.

During last year’s undercover operation, Blumensteel chatted online with an undercover agent and discussed the sexual acts he would perform when he met with who he believed was a boy. He was arrested Sept. 7, 2018, when he arrived at a Toms River house being used by investigators to bust pervs.

The sentence was handed down a day after prosecutors announced that 19 men had been arrested in October in Somerset County after chatting with undercover agents pretending to be underage teens. So far this year, authorities in the state have nabbed 59 suspected child predators in Ocean, Bergen and Somerset counties.

The suspects in the the October busts are listed below.

Brayan Alvarado busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Brayan Alvarado busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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1. Brayan Alvarado, 25, of Middlesex Borough. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Alvarado is a volunteer firefighter and driver for an electric company. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Jihad Brown busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Jihaad Brown busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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2. Jihaad Brown, 23, of Franklin Park section of Franklin. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Brown is retail salesman. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Michael Brown busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Michael Brown busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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3. Michael Brown, 28, of Edison. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Brown is a mail tester. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and third-degree child endangerment.

Julio Cubia-Aviles busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Julio Cubia-Aviles busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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4. Julio Cubia-Aviles, 27, of West Orange. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Cubia-Aviles is a carpenter. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and third-degree child endangerment.

Brian Davis busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Brian Davis busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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5. Brian Davis, 28, of Somerset section of Franklin. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Davis is a security guard. Charges are second-degree attempted promotion of child prostitution, second-degree luring, and third-degree child endangerment.

Asif Iqbal busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Asif Iqbal busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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6. Asif Iqbal, 53, of Mount Holly. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Iqbal is a business owner. Charges are second-degree attempted promotion of child prostitution, second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and third-degree child endangerment.

Juan Lopez busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Juan Lopez busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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7. Juan Lopez, 42, of Passaic. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Lopez is a day laborer. Charges are second-degree attempted sexual assault and third-degree child endangerment.

Rafael Martinez-Lezama busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Rafael Martinez-Lezama busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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8. Rafael Martinez-Lezama, 37 of New Brunswick. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old. Martinez-Lezama is a cook at a bagel shop. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Jose Martinez-Mejia busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Jose Martinez-Mejia busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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9. Jose Martinez-Mejia, 32, of West New York. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Martinez-Mejia is a day laborer. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, third-degree child endangerment, and third-degree attempt to promote obscene material to child.

Duraikandan Murugan busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Duraikandan Murugan busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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10. Duraikandan Murugan, 40, of Jasper, Indiana. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Murugan is unemployed. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, and third-degree child endangerment.

Nimeshbha Patel busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Nimeshbha Patel busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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11. Nimeshbha Patel, 48, of Piscataway. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Patel is a retail worker. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault and third-degree child endangerment.

Niraj Patel busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Niraj Patel busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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12. Niraj Patel, 46, of Somerset section of Franklin. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Patel is a printer. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault and third-degree child endangerment.

Michael Scumacher busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Michael Scumacher busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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13. Michael Schumacher, 55, of Somerset section of Franklin. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 12-year-old. Schumacher is a self-employed home theater installer. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Zulfiqer Sekender busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Zulfiqer Sekender busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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14. Zulfiqer Sekender, 47, of Piscataway. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Sekender is a software engineer. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Naveen Thangaraj busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Naveen Thangaraj busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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15. Naveen Thangaraj, 36, of Edison. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Thangaraj is a system engineer. Charges are second-degree luring and second-degree attempted sexual assault.

Alexander Ulikowski busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Alexander Ulikowski busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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16. Alexander Ulikowski, 20, of Branchburg. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Ulikowski is an assistant manager for a hockey store. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

Conrado Vasquez-Vasquez busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Conrado Vasquez-Vasquez busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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17. Conrado Vasquez-Vasquez, 38, of New Brunswick. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Vasquez-Vasquez works at a dry cleaners. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault and third-degree child endangerment.

Randal Wise busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Randal Wise busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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18. Randal Wise, 42, of Crawford, Indiana. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Wise is an engineer for a sports television network. Charges are second-degree luring, second-degree attempted sexual assault, third-degree child endangerment and third-degree attempt to promote obscene material to child.

Adam Ziegler busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
Adam Ziegler busted in Operation Open Door in October 2019. (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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19. Adam Zeigler, 34, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Officials said he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old. Zeigler works for an amusement park. Charges are second-degree luring and third-degree child endangerment.

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