Grayslake man charged in grooming case

GRAYSLAKE – A Grayslake man has been charged in connection with trying to lure someone he thought was a young girl into a sexual relationship, police said.

On Jan. 17, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division in collaboration with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service concluded an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a man in connection with indecent solicitation of a child, according to a news release.

For the past several weeks, Thomas E. Edwards Jr., 29, of the 200 block of Glen Street, Grayslake, was communicating with an undercover detective posing as a girl under the age of 15. During the conversations, Edwards claimed to be 26.

During their conversations, Edwards began enticing the “child” to meet with him to engage in sexual acts, police said. Additionally, Edwards sent videos of himself engaged in sexual acts.

On Jan. 17, Edwards drove to meet with the “girl,” police said. When he arrived, he was arrested by sheriff’s detectives.

Edwards has been charged with traveling to meet a minor, a Class 3 felony; grooming, a Class 4 felony; solicitation to meet a child, a Class 4 felony; and dissemination of harmful material, a Class 4 felony.

After an initial court hearing, Edwards was being held in the Lake County Jail on $250,000 bail. He is next due in court Feb. 16.