Prostitution Sting Operation Hooks 14 In Lake County

Editor's Note: One or more names in this report have been redacted in light of additional documentation provided regarding this case.

WAUKEGAN, IL — The 14 men charged with offering money to undercover detectives in exchange for sex at a Waukegan hotel range in age from 26 to 67 and include residents of Lake, Cook, McHenry and Kenosha counties, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

The arrests by the office's gang task force were part of a nationwide operation to deter sex buyers and reduce demand for prostitutes. More than 390 people were arrested by two dozen law enforcement agencies in 14 states as part of the 17th National Johns Suppression Initiative.

“There is no doubt a correlation between ‘Johns’ and women being sex trafficked," Sheriff John Idleburg said in a release. "Sex traffickers take women and juveniles to areas where purchased sexual acts are in high-demand, and northeastern Illinois is no exception. Our Gang Task Force will do everything they can to rescue and protect those being forced into involuntary servitude."

The undercover operation involved online classified websites regularly used to advertise prostitution, according to the sheriff's office. After making arrangements to meet at a hotel in the 4100 block of Fountain Square Place and offering money to deputies, the men were taken to Lake County Jail.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said it conducted joint operations with suburban police departments in Lansing, Matteson and Orland Hills.

The latest initiative, which ran from Jan. 13 to Feb. 3, resulted in 21 charges of soliciting a minor and 23 charges related to trafficking. It also included an online bot that engaged nearly 1,500 potential sex buyers before sending a warning about the "legal and social dangers of buying sex," Dart's office said in a release.

Sheriff's police arrested one person, who the office did not name, who sent more than 350 text messages to the chatbot and called "bot phone numbers" nine times. The Cook County Sheriff's Office did not disclose the names and charges of the people it said it arrested in the operation as required by law.

Records obtained by Patch following a request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act indicate Cook County Sheriff's Police's issued public moral nuisance citations to five men as part of the operation —(removed); Terrence Schaub, of Chicago; Alexander Kuhn, of La Grange; Michael Anderson, of Peotone; Aashiqbal Ghanchee, of Oak Forest — during an operation Feb. 1 at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Bedford Park. Another, 53-year-old Berwyn man Jon J. Bilich, was arrested and charged with felony indecent solicitation of a minor and travelling to meet a child after police said he thought he was meeting with a 16-year-old.