Man Jailed For Soliciting Girl, 13, In Chat Room
Ottawa, Ill. (STMW) - A 24-year-old Ottawa man has been charged with indecent solicitation of a child after allegedly trying to solicit sex from an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room.
Thomas Twardzik, 24, of the 600 block of Webster Street in far southwest suburban Ottawa, is being held on $125,000 bond for one count of indecent solicitation of a child, according to a Cook County Sheriff's Office release.
Twardzik remained in Cook Council Jail Saturday afternoon, according to the sheriff's office website.
An undercover investigator with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Child Exploitation Unit first made contact with Twardzic in a Yahoo chat room in mid-April, the release said.
Twardzic told the investigator, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl, that he was 24 years old, and they began "chatting" on a regular basis, the release said.
Over the course of a number of days, Twardzic communicated with the undercover investigator via chat messaging, text messaging and telephone conversations, soliciting sexual acts, the release said.
On Wednesday, Twardzic made plans to meet the undercover officer that day at a predetermined location in southwest suburban Justice and drive to a nearby forest preserve to engage in sex acts in the back of his current girlfriend's van.
When Twardzic arrived at the meeting location, he was immediately taken into custody by Cook County Sheriff's Police investigators, the release said.
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