Queens Village soldier charged in Internet sex sting

A Queens Village soldier, just back from Iraq, has been arrested for allegedly trying to have sex with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Richard Luttman, who returned from duty in Iraq last Decmeber, was arraigned on Tuesday, July 1 on charges of propositioning and attempting to meet for sex a person whom he believed to be a teenage female, Queens District Attorney (DA) Richard A. Brown said.
The alleged victim was actually a male New York Police Department undercover detective conducting a sting operation, Brown said.
Twenty-seven-year-old Luttman, of 92-07 212th Place, is in custody on $100,000 bail, said Kevin Ryan, DA spokesperson.
The defendant, a member of the National Guard, faces criminal charges of second-degree attempted rape, second-degree attempted criminal sexual act, first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors, third-degree attempted prostitute patronizing and attempted child welfare endangerment, Brown explained.
Luttman is due back in court on July 15. If convicted of the charges he faces, he could spend up to four years in prison, Ryan said.
Employed as a data analyst with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Luttman was arrested in Queens on June 30, when he tried to meet with his intended victim, Brown said.
Luttman had been communicating with the undercover officer online and by phone since June 11 after the two met in a public chat room, Brown said. Although the officer identified himself as a 14-year-old girl, Luttman allegedly asked whether the officer would have sex with him after identifying himself as a 27-year-old male from Queens, Brown said.
Luttman then allegedly e-mailed the undercover officer an image of a penis and his cell phone number, Brown said.