Wilmette Professor Traveled To Connecticut To Have Sex With Teen

WILMETTE, IL — A Wilmette man has admitted travelling to Connecticut to have sex with a teen that he had communicated with through an online chess app. Arturo Castro, 52, pleaded guilty Monday in Bridgeport federal court to one count of use of an interstate facility to persuade a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, around December 2013, Castro began communicating with a 15-year-old girl in Clinton, Connecticut through the online app “Chess with Friends” and through email. Using the app’s chat option, Castro first asked the girl to send him naked photographs of herself, and subsequently convinced her to create sexually explicit videos and send them to him. (Sign up for the latest breaking news alerts and daily digests from the Wilmette Patch or another local community.)

In January and February of 2014, Castro sent and received series of explicit email messages to the girl, according to court documents. They included photos and videos apparently showing him masturbating, with some containing geolocation metadata indicating they were recorded in Wilmette.

"This is not an adventure. This is a clear strong pursuit of my life at this point. Although extremely risky and unusual, which makes it adventurous, it is very real and purposeful," said one message sent from Castro's email address to the girl's, according to a redacted affidavit from Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Ryan Mahar.

Signed, "Your wonderful Arturo," the message passionately declares the author's love to the minor. "I want to live that so much. be your first kiss and your first so many things...You will want to make love to me over and over. for many days and years and more I hope."

In March 2014, Castro traveled from Illinois to Connecticut and engaged in illicit sexual activity with the juvenile, prosecutors said.

The 15-year-old told investigators Castro told her he was surprised she would talk to him because he was close to 40 years old and he kept asking her if she was a cop, according to the affidavit.

The girl's mother contacted the Clinton Police Department in April of 2016 and notified an officer that an AOL email user had engaged in inappropriate conversations with her daughter about two years prior, the agent states in his affidavit. She told police she had searched her daughter's old iPhone and found numerous sexually explicit images had been sent from the device.

Police then spoke to the victim, who explained how she had first communicated with Castro in the chat function of the "Chess With Friends" online game. She told investigators she had initially lied about her age, saying she was 16 or 17, but later told him her true age.

Castro is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28 at which time he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison, prosecutors said.

Castro has been detained since his arrest on Dec. 13, 2016. He initially faced additional counts of travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor and receipt of child pornography, offenses which would have carried a maximum of an additional 50 years of imprisonment had he been convicted.

Castro is a citizen of Mexico and a legal permanent resident of the U.S., according to the Department of Justice. He was formerly employed as a professor by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and worked at its Chicago office. UNAM Chicago directed all queries to a lawyer, who declined to confirm when Castro was let go from the university.

Castro also worked as a management consultant, according to his Linkedin profile. It stated he has worked for UNAM Chicago since 2009 and run his own company since 1989.

His listed specialties include "golf course management solutions", "interpersonal, cultural and personal opportunities", and "sexual harassment prevention".

This investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations in New Haven and Chicago, and the Clinton Police Department. Federal prosecutors said the investigation and conviction of Castro was part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. A CyberTipLine is available for members of the public who become aware of cases of child exploitation to report incidents to the department.

UPDATE, AUGUST 28:

Castro was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill for travelling across the country to have sex with a minor.

Top photo: Arturo Castro booking photograph from a Jan. 25 Wilmette PD arrest used by Connecticut police to verify his identity.