Man Accused Of Soliciting Undercover Cop Posing As 16-Year-Old

DES PLAINES, IL — A Chicago man is accused of indecent solicitation of someone he believed to be a 16-year-old child.

Feliciano Morales-Diaz, 35, of the 8000 block of South Kedvale Avenue, was arrested Wednesday after he travelled to an ice cream shop in Des Plaines to meet a person he had met on the social messaging app Kik who identified themselves as "Evelyn," authorities said.

But "Evelyn" turned out to be an undercover sergeant in the Cook County Sheriff's Office, prosecutors said.

Morales-Diaz was charged with attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse, travelling to meet a minor, grooming a minor, manufacturing harmful materials and two counts of indecent solicitation of a minor.

Assistant State's Attorney Gina Pensa said the undercover sergeant first told Morales-Diaz that "Evelyn" was 16 years old after Morales-Diaz sent the account a message saying, "Hey cutie," on Oct. 21.

Pensa said Morales-Diaz sent pictures of his genitalia and condoms to the sergeant, who discussed meeting up at an ice cream shop near "Evelyn's" house.

"[Morales-Diaz] repeatedly asked the 'minor' to meet up so that [he] and the 'minor' could engage in sexual intercourse multiple times until they run out of condoms," Pensa said at a bond hearing Thursday in Skokie.

Morales-Diaz is a lifelong Chicago resident, a father of three and a supervisor at a warehouse, according to the public defender appointed to represent him at the hearing.

After waiving his constitutional right against self-incrimination, Morales-Diaz told investigators he believed he was sending sexually explicit messages and photos to a child and that he had left work with the intention of having sex with a minor, according to police and prosecutors.

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Cook County Associate Judge John Calabrese said those admissions suggest that Morales-Diaz was "ready, willing and able" to engage in intercourse with a child.

"These allegations are so extraordinary and so dangerous to the community and to those who need to be protected, that I don't think a [non-cash bond] would be sufficient to protect the community against the kind of behavior that is alleged to have been performed by this defendant," Calabrese said.

Morales-Diaz, who does not have a criminal record, was released following Thursday's hearing after he posted the $25,000 cash portion of his bail. He is forbidden from having any contact with children that are not blood relatives.