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Michigan man arrested for alleged sex offenses after meeting teen online

A Michigan man was arrested by Will County sheriff’s deputies in connection with criminal sex offenses after he allegedly met with a teenage girl through social media, police said.

On June 15, the Will County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from the mother of a 15-year-old girl. The mother told deputies she was told by her daughter that she allegedly met Christopher D. Smith, 26, of Oak Park, Michigan, on the Kik Messenger app and communicated for several months, police said.

The daughter then allegedly agreed to meet with Smith alone several times over a few months, Kathy Hoffmeyer, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said in an email.

Sheriff’s detectives investigated the complaint and obtained a warrant for Smith’s arrest on Sept. 28. The detectives tried to meet with Smith in Michigan but were unsuccessful, Hoffmeyer said.

Smith eventually was arrested and booked into the Will County jail Wednesday.

Smith faces charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, indecent solicitation of a child and indecent solicitation of a child through the internet.

Smith’s bond was set at $300,000.

Felix Sarver

Felix Sarver

Felix Sarver covers crime and courts for The Herald-News