Illinois police chief issues warning to parents after Georgia man allegedly traveled to meet local girl

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - A Georgia man is facing charges after authorities said he drove to Illinois to meet a young girl who he'd been talking to online.

What we know:

Deputies with the Lake County Sheriff's Office were called to a home around 4:40 a.m. after a girl younger than 14 was reported missing.

Sheriff's police said the girl's cellphone was not working, leaving detectives with few clues at the start of the case.

Lake County Chief of Law Enforcement Chris Covelli said investigators were able to trace communications from a phone the girl had previously used and discovered she had been talking with someone connected to a Georgia phone number.

"So I can't get into the specific platform [that the girl and the suspect were allegedly talking on] right now, but what I can say is that our detectives did an incredible job. Very little leads to go off of when this originated and they got involved in the case," Covelli said. "And what they did is they backtracked a cell phone that this teen did have at one time. And they were able to find that she was communicating with a telephone number that originated in Georgia."

Covelli said detectives quickly identified a possible suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Jordy Alexis Fuerte Perez of Norcross, Georgia.

"They did some research very quickly, developed a possible person that she was communicating with from this other phone number in Georgia and were able to link the connections just like that," he said.

Detectives learned that Fuerte Perez had made plans to drive from Georgia to Lake County to pick up the girl. It appeared he told the girl he wanted to have a "romantic relationship" with her, police said.

Detectives then learned what car Fuerte Perez may have been driving and found it via public safety camera technology at the Independence Grove Forest Preserve near Libertyville.

Around 6 p.m., deputies located both the girl and Fuerte Perez inside the vehicle at the forest preserve, police said. The girl did not appear to be hurt and was taken to the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center for an evaluation.

Fuerte Perez was charged with solicitation of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Police said more charges could be filed.

"Although the victim has been rescued and the offender's in custody, our detectives are continuing to investigate, so it's possible that this individual could face grooming charges depending on what exactly happened when they were together," Covelli said. "Some charges could stem from that as well."

Big picture view:

Covelli said cases involving adults contacting children online have become much more common.

"Yeah, these cases have really spiked, and that's due to technology. It's due to just about every 10-year-old and above having access to electronics, having a cell phone," he said.

"What we have found is that predators, they go where the kids go. So they're going to be on different apps that kids use. They're going to engage in conversation with children, and they have the internet to hide behind," Covelli said. "So it has become very prevalent throughout, not just this region, all across the United States."

He urged parents to regularly check their children's phones and online activity.

"What I understand, you know, as parents, there's a fine line between privacy and also protecting your children. But it is so important that we lay that groundwork and the fact that parents will go through their children's phones randomly, see who they're talking to, see what applications they're on," Covelli said.

He added parents should make those expectations clear from the beginning.

"It really should be open communication that the child, the teen, whoever has this device, they should know right up front that their parents are going to be going through their cell phones," Covelli said. "That should be a clear expectation of having a cell phone and, again, it's not to intrude on their privacy but it's really to protect them because these predators, they know how to get around and they know how to contact children through these devices."

Dig deeper:

Covelli said the case involving the missing girl and Fuerte Perez could have turned out much differently if detectives had not located her quickly.

"Yeah, our detectives did a phenomenal job with very little to go on on the front end and be able within 12 hours to rescue this girl from this 24-year-old who took possession of her, took custody of her," he said.

"And you know, anything could have happened in those, that 12-hour period. And if a longer timeframe had extended, they could have traveled to Georgia. They could have traveled anywhere in the country, maybe even across the border," Covelli said.

What's next:

Fuerte Perez remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing Tuesday.