Hickory Hills Man Accused Of Molesting 12-Year-Old Indiana Girl

PORTAGE, IN — A 28-year-old Hickory Hills man is accused of driving across the Indiana state line where he sexually molested a 12-year-old Portage girl he met online.

Joe Benavente, of the 9400 block of South 81st Court, is charged with four felony counts of child molestation.

According to Portage, IN, and Porter County, IN, court documents, Benavente and the girl began communicating via Snapchat in July. She initially told him she was 14 to make herself sound older; Benavente told her he was 23.

At first their conversation was “normal,” the girl told Portage detectives, but then he asked her to send naked pictures of herself. The girl did not comply, police said.

On July 27, Benavente picked her up at her residence in a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee, police said. They drove around for a while, before they ended up in the parking lot of a Denny’s on US 20. At first she resisted his requests to have sex, stating no “three times” while Benavente said “please about 30 times,” court documents said. ending up in the parking lot of a Denny’s on US 20. He told her she would be “cool” and that intercourse wouldn’t be as “painful” when she got older, police reports said.

The girl told the detective she wanted to say no, “but it just went on from there, I guess,” police reports said.

In August, Benavente again traveled to Indiana to meet the girl, police said. She waited until her mother left for work and then went to meet Benavente, who was waiting for her in his vehicle. On his way to Portage, the girl told police he texted her every five minutes.

They went to a Days Inn in Portage, where he told her to put on a “COVID mask,” the girl told police. When at first she wouldn’t take off her clothes, police said Benavente threatened to stop talking to her. They had intercourse again and then Benavente took the girl home after spending an hour together.

Around Oct. 22, the girl began thinking about what happened to her, court documents said. She began doing research on the topic about “who she should tell and what she should tell.” Police said the girl told a school counselor about having sex with an adult male. A few days later, the girl and her mother went to speak with Portage police.

Detectives went to Days Inn, where employees found a guest registration for Benavents on Aug. 10, along with his Hickory Hills address and license plate. He also paid for the room with a credit card, police said.

Portage police were able to obtain Benavente’s drivers license picture after searching for his Illinois plate number through Portage FLOCK camera system. Detectives also found photographs of a gray 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee in Berwyn.

Benavente was arrested at his Hickory Hills residence on Dec. 22. He has since been extradited to the Porter County Jail. He was scheduled for a court hearing on Wednesday afternoon.

If convicted, the sentence for each count is 20 to 40 years.