A judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a key witness for failing to appear in court on Wednesday in a case against a Lockport man charged with traveling to meet someone he thought was a teen girl for sex.

Shane Divis, 25, was the leader of a now-defunct vigilante group that conducted an undercover sting operation in 2021, which led to a Shorewood Police Department investigation.

That investigation led to a five-count indictment against John Paul Resedean, 45, on felony charges of traveling to meet a child, indecent solicitation of a child, grooming and solicitation to meet a child.

The charges alleged Resedean traveled to Lover’s Lane in 2021 in Shorewood to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with someone he thought was a 16-year-old girl, but was actually Divis’ online persona.

Divis is the key witness in the case, who was required on Wednesday to testify in a pretrial defense motion. He had been required to appear in court on past dates as well.

Divis was not in court, and it was not clear why.

Will County Judge Art Smigielski issued a warrant for Divis’ arrest.

“This game has been going on for a while with this particular witness,” Smigielski said.

A potential bench trial has been set for July 7. The pretrial defense motion could still have a hearing before the trial.

Divis’ vigilante group was called Save Our Siblings. In the early 2020s, the group conducted online sting operations similar to the NBC Dateline program “To Catch a Predator.”

Those stings have led to police investigations, which have resulted in charges against at least four men in Will County, including Resedean.

While Resedean’s case is still pending trial, the cases against the three other men have concluded with convictions.

One of those men is former Catholic school teacher Jeremy Hylka, 50, of Joliet. In 2023, Hylka pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy.

Last year, Hylka completed his two-and-a-half-year probation.

So far in Resedean’s case, Smigielski has denied a defense motion to dismiss the case after finding prosecutors did not violate evidence disclosure rules.

After that ruling, Resedean’s attorney, Dana Jakusz, filed a motion on Nov. 24, 2025, that asked Smigielski to bar all conversations obtained by Divis “through means of eavesdropping.”

The motion also requested Smigielski bar Divis’ testimony regarding the dating site account he used in his interaction with Resedean.

Jakusz’ motion accused Divis of turning over “cherry-picked information” to the authorities rather than all “relevant information” regarding Save Our Siblings and his conversations with Resedean on the dating site.

Jakusz’ motion claimed the “missing evidence intentionally withheld” by Divis is a violation of Resedean’s due process rights and Illinois Supreme Court rules.

Jakusz’ motion accused Save Our Siblings of engaging in “deceptive acts” of vigilante justice by “defrauding individuals” using various online platforms.

In a court filing, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Romero said their office turned over all the required materials to Resedean’s attorneys, and they are not required to “seek out information” not within their possession or control.

Romero’s court filing said prosecutors can establish the relevance or authenticity of the evidence they intend to introduce in the case.

Romero’s court filing said Divis will testify he had conversations with Resedean, the latter of whom “arranged to meet with an underage female.”

“What’s even more authenticating to the messages is that [Resedean] arranges to meet the underage female at the Lover’s Lane in Shorewood and actually shows up to that location to meet her. The defendant makes admissions on video that he came to meet an underage female,” Romero’s court filing said.