Ferndale Man Tries to Meet 'Child' for Sexual Relationship In IL: Cops

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A Ferndale man is accused of attempting to meet up with an underage girl while he was visiting the Chicago area for work, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Kyle J. Conner, 36, was charged with felony indecent solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a minor and distributing harmful material. He was due in court Friday morning.

The sheriff's office said Conner was communicating with an undercover detective online, who was posing as a girl under the age of 15.

During the conversations, police said Conner asked the "child" for nude images of herself and also sent her sexually explicit images of himself. He then made arrangements to meet the "girl" for a sexual encounter, according to authorities.

Conner was in the Chicagoland area working at a convention on Thursday, when he finalized his plan to meet the "girl" for sex and drove to meet her, police said.

Instead of meeting the girl, Conner met detectives and was arrested without incident, police said.

"Over the last several months, our detectives and Special Investigations Group in collaboration with our federal partners have arrested a number of adults who try and meet children for sex," Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said in a statement. "We are going to continue being aggressive in seeking those who prey on our children."

Patch editor Eric DeGrechie contributed to this report