Crime & Safety
South Side Man Accused Of Meeting Teen Who Turned Out To Be Cop
The Cook County Special Crime Victims Unit met the man when showed up for a meetup with a 15-year-old he met on a messaging app, cops say.
COOK COUNTY, IL – A Gage Park man was arrested Feb. 3 when he showed up to meet a 15-year-old he had solicited for sex on a messaging app who turned out to be a cop, according to the investigation. Juan Heredia, 34, is facing felony charges of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse, grooming, indecent solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a minor.
Heredia first contacted an undercover officer from Cook County Sheriff’s Police Special Victims Unit posing as a 15-year-old girl on Jan. 29. When told by the undercover investigator that the person he was chatting with was 15, but police said Heredia kept sending sexually explicit texts. Heredia allegedly arranged a meet-up with the teen to have sex. When he arrived at the prearranged location, police said he was met by undercover officers from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Special Victims Unit.
Heredia appeared in court Thursday at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where bail was set at $50,000.
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