Huntley man pleads guilty to traveling to meet child, gets probation

A Huntley man pleaded guilty Monday to traveling to Lake in the Hills to meet a child in 2022 and was sentenced to probation and is required to register as a sex offender, McHenry County court records show.

Charles A. Palmieri, 36, of the 9600 block of Cummings Street, also was sentenced to 14 days in the county jail, but with credit for time served, his sentence was considered complete, according to a sentencing order signed by Judge Tiffany Davis.

Palmieri also must pay $2,389 in fines, submit to a sex offender evaluation within 45 days and comply with any recommended treatment, according to the sentencing order. In exchange for his guilty plea, charges of grooming and indecent solicitation of a child were dismissed.

Palmieri was accused of using the internet Jan. 12, 2022, to solicit, seduce or lure a person he believed to be a child “to engage in unlawful sexual conduct” and traveling to Lake in the Hills to meet who he thought was a child, according to the criminal complaint and indictment. The acts Palmieri is accused of soliciting would have amounted to an additional charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault, according to the complaint.

Palmieri’s attorney, Kendall Hartsfield, said his client “made a difficult but informed decision to plead guilty. ... This decision was based on a careful evaluation of the evidence, the risks and benefits of going to trial, and the personal circumstances of my client. I appreciate the professionalism of the prosecutor and the court in handling this matter.”