Wisconsin Man Faces Charges Of Indecent Solicitation Of Child In Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, IL — A Wisconsin man is accused of traveling to Lake Forest with the intention of engaging in sexual conduct with a child, records show.

Brian Ivy, 51, of Racine, was arrested in March after showing up at a city-owned building where he had arranged to meet a person he believed to be under the age of 13, according to police and prosecutors.

Ivy solicited sex acts with a participant in an undercover operation, communicating with them over the course of three days, according to police reports obtained by Patch. The day before his arrest, officers reportedly learned that he had been attempting to make contact with a child.

After checking his record and learning of a 2002 conviction for exploitation of a child, police devised a plan to use a building owned by the city of Lake Forest to take him into custody in case he decided to come to town for a pre-arranged meeting, according to the heavily redacted reports.

Police said Ivy showed up around 7 p.m. on March 21 and was immediately taken into custody. He then signed away his constitutional right against self-incrimination and agreed to speak to police.

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Ivy explained that he had come to Lake Forest to meet a friend "to talk," police reported. "He stated they were going to hang out a little bit. He said they talked about sexual stuff but nothing was going to happen."

When asked what happened on the day of the meeting, Ivy asked for an attorney, according to police.

Police reported that they would seek a search warrant to analyze Ivy's phone, which he said he had used to communicate with his friend.

Prosecutors initially approved two counts of indecent solicitation of a child and one count of travelling to meet a minor, and a judge granted their request to jail him while he awaits trial.

To be guilty of indecent solicitation of a child, a person must knowingly solicit a child or someone who they believe to be a child to engage in sexual conduct.

On April 17, a Lake County grand jury returned a six-count indictment against him, adding an additional count of indecent solicitation, a class 1 felony punishable by probation up to 15 years in state prison, as well as two counts of the class 3 felony offense of traveling to meet a minor, sentences for which range from probation to 10 years.

Ivy, who remained detained at Lake County Jail as of May 1, is due back in court in Waukegan on May 22 for a case management conference ahead of a preliminary trial date the following month.