A 34-year-old Chicago man has been charged with multiple felonies after he solicited an undercover Cook County Sheriff’s Police Special Victims Unit investigator posing as a teenage girl on a messaging app, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
Juan Heredia, of the 5000 block of Richmond Ave, was arrested on Wednesday Feb. 3 by Sheriff’s Police after he traveled to meet a person he believed was a 15-year-old girl, according to the investigation.
Heredia first contacted the undercover officer who was posing as a teenage girl on the messaging app on Jan 29. The undercover officer informed Heredia that the person he was communicating with was 15, but Heredia continued to send sexually explicit messages. Heredia then arranged to meet the individual to engage in sexual activity, according to the investigation.
Heredia appeared today at a bond hearing at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse on felony charges of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse, grooming, indecent solicitation of a child, and traveling to meet a minor. Bail was set at $50,000.
The public is reminded that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the government in a court of law.
Anyone with information about suspected sexual crimes against children or human trafficking is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office on-line at https://www.cookcountysheriffil.gov/submit-acrime-tip/ or call the Sheriff’s Police non-emergency number at 847-635-1188.