Melrose Park Man, 21, Arrested for 'Grooming' Girl, 11, He Met on Facebook: Police

AURORA, IL - A 21-year-old Melrose Park man is being held on a $50,000 bail after police said he attempted to set up a meeting with an 11-year-old girl he befriended on Facebook and who he planned to have sexual contact with.

Alonso Ayala, 21, of the 10,000 block of Lyndale Avenue in Melrose Park, is charged with grooming and traveling to meet a minor, according to an Aurora Police Department press release.

The charges stem from an investigation launched on May 25 by an Aurora Police School Resource Officer assigned to Waldo Middle School in Aurora, according to the news release. The officer learned an 11 year-old girl, who is a student at the school, made plans to meet with Ayala in person after they exchanged several messages over the previous two days on Facebook.

Charging documents indicate both Ayala and the girl lied about their ages. Ayala told the girl he was 17 while she claimed she was 12, according to the news release. Eventually, the messages being sent by Ayala turned sexual. While the girl agreed to meet Ayala, that meeting never actually took place, Dan Ferrelli, a spokesman for the Aurora Police Department, said in an email.

But investigators, who were acting as the victim, did set up a meeting with Ayala in the parking lot in the area of Jackson Street and Melrose Avenue. Ayala was taken into custody around 6:40 p.m. on May 26 when he drove into the lot, according to the news release.

Ayala’s next scheduled court date is on June 11.

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