Man Charged with Indecent Solicitation after Online Chats with Police

Updated, 3:45 p.m.

A Joliet man was charged with indecent solicitation of a child after police said he made inappropriate overtures to a Western Springs investigator posing on Craigslist as a 15-year-old girl.

Kevin J. Ethridge, 47, of the 1000 block of Magnolia Avenue, was arrested in his Joliet home Thursday after an investigation that began in September 2012.

Police said that at that time Ethridge began soliciting “indecent liberties” during numerous online conversations with the investigator. 

"Indecent liberties as it pertains to this particular investigation included things such as inappropriate remarks, solicitations to meet up with the child to perform various criminal sexual acts, along with transmitting electronic images of a sexual nature," said Deputy Chief Brian Budds via email. The man never met up with the investigator posing as the teen, Budds said.

Western Springs Police, along with investigators from the Major Case Assistance Team, took Ethridge into custody at his home without incident, police said.

Ethridge also faces charges of distribution of harmful materials to a minor. Both that and the indecent solicitation charge are Class 4 felonies.

A judge set Ethridge's bond at $100,000 during a hearing Friday at the Cook County 5^th District Circuit Court.

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