Online Predator Threatens Girl To Get More Nude Pics: Police

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A 56-year-old Wisconsin man faces stalking and child porn charges for posing as a teenage boy online in order to solicit nude photos and videos from a 16-year-old Lake County girl, authorities said this past week. Howard M. Hickey, 56, of the 8500 block of 64th Street in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was arrested on Thursday following a nearly yearlong investigation that began after he formed an online relationship with the girl in 2016 and more recently threatened her after she didn't share more pictures and videos, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

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The probe began in September when the teenage girl, who lives in unincorporated Gurnee, told authorities she was being harassed and stalked online, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office. She said she met a person she believed to be a 16-year-old boy in 2016 and thought she was in a quasi-relationship with him.

The girl sent nude photos and videos to him but then the two stopped communicating after several months. Then, in 2019, the girl received an unsolicited message from the person who demanded more photos and videos, threatening to send photos he already had to her family and friends if she didn't comply, according to the news release.

When the girl refused to meet his demands, he sent nude pictures of the girl to her family and friends, according to authorities.

During their investigation, the Lake County Sheriff's Cybercrimes Unit traced the communications back to Hickey, authorities said. On July 2, detectives with the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Kenosha Police Department searched Hickey's home.

During the search, Hickey tried to destroy an electronic device, police said.

Hickey has been charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of distribution of child porn, felony stalking and obstructing an officer. He was initially held at the Kenosha County Jail and released after posting his $20,000 bail.

Following Hickey's arrest, Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg is urging parents to check in with their children regarding who they are talking with online and to monitor applications they use.

“I am proud of the collaboration between our detectives and the Kenosha Police Department to identify and arrest this sexual predator," Idleburg said. "I cannot stress it enough, sexual predators lurk online and often pretend to be people they are not."