STILLWATER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A firefighter from Chicago faces charges stemming from a human trafficking operation after being arrested in Stillwater, Minnesota, as part of a sting that had him believing he was communicating with a 15-year-old girl.
Chicago firefighter arrested in undercover sting
What we know:
John C. Mitchell Jr., 52, is charged with engaging in electronic communications describing sexual conduct with a child for conversations that allegedly occurred in May 2025.
According to charges filed in Washington County, on May 20, 2025, officers from the East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force created an undercover account on the KIK messaging app. The account was designed to depict a 15-year-old female. KIK is a free messaging application that allows users to communicate through usernames rather than phone numbers. However, due to its anonymity features, KIK has been associated with cyberbullying, grooming and the exploitation of minors.
According to charges, authorities digitally altered a female undercover officer’s photos as part of the profile to make her age look regressed, and on Aug. 7, they received a message from a person who claimed to be "Jay" – stating they were 40 years old, and from Chicago.
Mitchell, using the alter ego, then asked the officer if she had a boyfriend, and sent a picture of himself with his son, with the response, "I hope you don't mind me saying cuz you're only 15. But wow!! You're absolutely gorgeous and look like you have an amazing body too from what I can see."
Charges state that he then discussed the officer coming to Chicago and lying to her parents about the potential visit, writing in the process, "I promise you'll feel safe and comfortable here if you'd want and we could relax outside the deck next to my pool." He then offered to buy her a plane ticket for the meetup.
Later in conversation, Mitchell stated, "Maybe I could call your school as your dad and tell them you won't be there while I'm there. So we can find all kinds of things we'd wanna do, would be loads of fun," according to the charges.
He then told the officer that he wanted to kiss her while she didn’t have clothes on, detailing sexual intercourse, and sent a picture of himself without a shirt, charges state.
Dig deeper:
Charges allege that Mitchell then provided an address in Chicago, which officers used to match with photographs sent on social media.
At that point, authorities contacted a sergeant with special investigations at the Chicago Police Department and were able to identify Jay as Mitchell, learning in the process that the IP address of the computer being used for communication was located at the Chicago Fire Department, Station 94, where Mitchell worked.
What's next:
Mitchell is out of custody at the time of writing, and a warrant has been requested due to the nature of the crime and the threat to public safety, charges state.
The Source: Information provided by charges filed in Washington County, Minnesota.