Man Charged With Traveling to Meet a Child After New Lenox Walmart Confrontation

Article Summary: A man has been charged with traveling to meet a child and grooming, both felonies, after New Lenox police were called to a disturbance at the Walmart on E. Lincoln Highway on July 31. Police said a group of people had created a fake profile of a 15-year-old girl, arranged a meeting and confronted the man at the store.

Case Key Points:

Officers were dispatched to Walmart, 501 E. Lincoln Highway, at about 7:11 p.m. July 31.

Charges: one count of traveling to meet a child, a Class 3 felony, and grooming, a Class 4 felony.

No actual minor was involved; police said the profile was created by a group of adults using the application MeetMe.

The man was taken to the Will County Adult Detention Facility to await a pretrial detention hearing.

NEW LENOX — A man identified by New Lenox police as Marinucci has been charged with traveling to meet a child and with grooming after officers responded to a disturbance at the Walmart at 501 E. Lincoln Highway on July 31, the department said in an Aug. 3 release.

Officers were dispatched to the store at about 7:11 p.m. and learned that a group of people had confronted a man who they said had been trying to meet a minor, police said.

According to the department, the group had created a profile on an application called MeetMe purporting to be a 15-year-old girl. Police said the man contacted the profile and communicated with the group through the application and later by text message, and that the messages indicated he intended to meet the girl at the store for sexual intercourse.

Investigators said the man told them he believed he was communicating with a 15-year-old girl and had arranged to meet her for sexual intercourse. Police said investigators also reviewed the text messages and found statements about his intentions and an awareness of the purported age.

Traveling to meet a child is a Class 3 felony and grooming is a Class 4 felony. The charges are allegations and have not been proved in court.

The man was processed at the New Lenox Police Department and transferred to the Will County Adult Detention Facility to await a pretrial detention hearing, the department said. The release lists a department phone number of 815-462-6100.