Iowa Trucker Arrested On Way to Meet Underage Bridgeview Girl for Sex: Cops

BRIDGEVIEW, IL -- Parents called police after finding texts from an Iowa truck driver soliciting their underage daughter for sex, Bridgeview police said in a news release.

Michael Bronkhorst, 46, was arrested around 2:15 p.m Sunday on Harlem Avenue near 77th Street. Bridgeview. Police said he had parked his semi-truck in the parking lot and was walking to a fast food restaurant where he had planned to meet the girl for a date.

Police said Bronkhorst drove from Iowa to Bridgeview to meet the girl after engaging her conversation via cell phone texts. The girl’s parents saw the texts and called Bridgeview police.

Bronkhorst was placed under surveillance after detectives got permission from the girl’s parents to access her cell phone. Detectives continued the conversation with the trucker, police said.

Bridgeview detectives were joined in their investigation by Oak Forest, Lyons and Forest Park police, and the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Bridgeview Police Chief Ricardo Mancha said that no harm had come to the young girl, who did not meet the suspect.

“The parents did the right thing and monitored their daughter's use of the cell phone and who she was texting. They immediately realized their daughter was being drawn into an inappropriate situation and called the police,” Mancha said.

“This is a common problem and a reminder that parents need to monitor the texting and social media of their under-aged children to protect them from predators."

Bronkhorst is charged with indecent solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a minor. He is scheduled Monday for a bond hearing in Bridgeview.