SOUTH ELGIN MAN ARRESTED FOR SOLICITING A CHILD
Saturday, August 29, 2009 — A South Elgin man is set to appear in court on Tuesday after he was arrested for attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, according to the Office of Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.
Steven Ball, 57, of the 1100 block of Fairfax Lane, was charged with Indecent Solicitation of a Child. Over the course of several weeks, Ball had numerous online conversations with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was actually a detective from the Sheriff’s Police Child Exploitation Unit. Ball suggested they meet to engage in sex near a restaurant in a shopping district in the North Riverside area. When Ball arrived at that restaurant on Wednesday, he was taken into custody by sheriff's police without incident.
When he was arrested, Ball had in his possession computerized directions from South Elgin to the meeting place as well as the model number of a camera he had discussed purchasing for the “14-year-old girl.” In their online chats, Ball had asked the girl to use the camera to take "sexy pics" of herself and send them to him.
Ball's arrest marks the third time this summer that officers from the Sheriff's Police Child Exploitation Unit have arrested an adult for soliciting a child for sex while chatting online. Sheriff Dart reminds parents to remain vigilant in supervising their children’s internet usage.
“With the beginning of school, children may be spending more time on their home computers doing homework but also more time conversing in chat rooms,” Dart said. “I strongly urge parents to talk to their children and stress to them they should not give out their full names and addresses, and to never agree to an in-person meeting with someone they have met over the internet.”
Ball is free on $50,000 bond and his next court date is set for Tuesday at the Maywood courthouse.
