Dirksen
Federal Courthouse | Sun-Times File
The investigation does not appear to have led to any criminal
charges. But an August 2019 affidavit from an FBI task force
officer seeking a search warrant was unsealed last week in
Chicago’s federal court.�
Federal authorities have been investigating a onetime Rolling
Meadows police officer for allegedly using a dating website to
either collect child pornography from minors or to persuade
underage girls to have sex with him, court records show.
The investigation does not appear to have led to any criminal
charges. But an August 2019 affidavit from an FBI task force
officer seeking a search warrant was unsealed last week in
Chicago’s federal court.
That affidavit contained transcripts of apparent online
conversations in which someone appeared to offer money to minors
while trying to convince them to have sexual relations, even though
they told the person they were underage.
The document also cited four child exploitation complaints from
2016 and 2017 against a profile on the website
seekingarrangement.com, which the feds have connected to the former
officer. The affidavit said the complaints led to the account being
closed in 2017.
The Chicago Sun-Times is not naming the officer because court
records show he has not been charged with a crime. He resigned from
the Rolling Meadows Police Department because of the allegations,
according to the affidavit. He could not be reached for
comment.
The Sun-Times also unsuccessfully sought comment from
seekingarrangement.com, which describes itself as a site “where
beautiful, successful people fuel mutually beneficial
relationships.†It is described in the affidavit as “an online
dating site that markets itself as a matchmaking website for
wealthy men to find attractive young women.â€
The investigation began with a report from the officer’s wife
to the Rolling Meadows Police Department in November 2018,
according to the affidavit. It said she searched his laptop after
becoming suspicious of him and discovered an email account in which
the user had been messaging with young girls about having sex. She
said she changed the password on the account so she could access it
on her cellphone and take screen shots, the affidavit said.
The Rolling Meadows Police Department then gave the screen shots
to the FBI, it said. The FBI task force officer quoted a March 2016
conversation found among them in the affidavit. It allegedly
involved a user who needed money to go on a trip and eventually
admitted she was 14, it said.
The email user allegedly offered her $300 for sex and $100 for
oral sex and told her “I wouldn’t talk to other guys … There
are a lot of creepy and bad old people on the site. You have to be
careful.â€
The email user also allegedly sent a “picture of numerous $100
bills fanned out†to the 14-year-old, according to the
affidavit.
In separate conversations in August and September 2016, the
email user also allegedly offered a $200 “allowance†to another
user during a conversation about sex in which the other person said
“I’m almost 17.â€
The FBI managed to track down acquaintances of that person, who
shared corroborating information and led them to a police report in
which a girl told police she had been meeting adult men on
seekingarrangement.com. She later denied it and stopped cooperating
with law enforcement, according to the affidavit.
The task force officer also said he checked an FBI database and
discovered that a separate email account connected to the officer
had been associated with a sexual exploitation complaint in
September 2016. In that case, a 16-year-old girl told her mother
that a friend told her she could “make a lot of money sending
nude pictures of herself†on seekingarrangement.com.
The SeekingArrangement website says it “is committed to the
fight against sex and human trafficking and will block and report
to law enforcement any individuals they deem are in violation of
anti-trafficking laws.â€
