Mundelein man charged with trying to solicit sex from teenage girl, sheriffs say
A man was arrested and charged after Lake County sheriffs say he tried to solicit sex from a minor near Mundelein.
Homero Sotero-Ocampo, 41, was charged with indecent solicitation of a minor.
The sheriff's office said on Friday, around 3 p.m., deputies responded to the 26300 block of North Diamond Lake Road for a report of a person who asked a 14-year-old girl to engage in a sexual act.
The victim told deputies that she was standing near her home when a pickup truck, driven by a man, pulled up.
It was alleged that the driver [Sotero-Ocampo] asked the victim if she was 13 or 14 years old before asking her to help him with something.
It was further alleged that he asked the victim to engage in a sexual act with him. The girl immediately walked away, went home, and told her parents, who then called the sheriff's office.
Deputies spoke with the victim and neighbors, one of whom provided them with doorbell footage showing the pickup truck matching the description. The neighbor told deputies the same truck was spotted on Shady Lane in Mundelein.
Sheriff's deputies immediately went to that area and located the vehicle parked in front of a home in the 300 block of Shady Lane.
Further investigation revealed the person driving the truck at the time of the incident was Sotero-Ocampo, who lived on the block. Sheriff's deputies conducted what was called a "show up," and the victim positively identified him as the suspect.
Sotero-Ocampo was arrested and taken to the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division and interviewed by the Sheriff's Crimes Against Children team before being charged.
Sotero-Ocampo remains held in Lake County Jail and was scheduled to attend his initial court hearing on Saturday morning. The Lake County State's Attorney's Office said they intended to file a petition to detain Sotero-Ocampo in custody while awaiting trial.
