Joliet man charged with sex trafficking following undercover investigation
Further investigation revealed that Hardeman recruited the victim into commercial sex work last November.
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Further investigation revealed that Hardeman recruited the victim into commercial sex work last November.
Some state lawmakers are proposing legislation that would eliminate criminal penalties for adults involved in consensual sex work.
It was not clear late Friday whether any arrests had been made.
Neighbors say much of the illegal activity is spilling into the alleyways - which are right behind their homes.
We have covered the issue in the Southwest Side neighborhood before, and now, neighbors say it is more rampant than ever. CBS 2's Marybel Gonzalez reports.
There are disturbing details and arrests following a months-long investigation into human trafficking, and the victims are all women from South America.
Brendan Kennedy-Gasior, 37, is facing felony charges of promoting prostitution.
Brendan Kennedy-Gasior, 37, is facing felony charges of promoting prostitution.
Sex trafficking is a complicated problem that for many reasons is difficult for law enforcement to address and enforce.
Sex trafficking is a complicated problem that for many reasons is difficult for law enforcement to address and enforce. But as CBS 2's Joe Donlon found as he rode along for a sting operation earlier this summer, those challenges are not stopping efforts to fight trafficking.
Residents say they have reported it to police and the alderman, but the problem keeps getting worse.
The residents say they have reported it to police and the alderman, but the problem keeps getting worse. CBS 2's Marybel González reports.
"He requested an attorney," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. "Well judge, you need an attorney. You got problems."
A West Rogers Park building has been torn down after authorities conducted a raid there this week.
The FBI on Wednesday was asking for help in finding potential victims and information about two truck drivers – one of them from Chicago – who are accused of kidnapping women and demanding ransom for their release.
A man stood charged Saturday with running a prostitution operation out of his Bridgeport neighborhood apartment.
Under Florida law, most evidence is made public when given to defendants. That hasn't happened yet with the videos, and lawyers for Kraft and the other men want to pre-empt it, arguing that evidence shouldn't be made public until the investigation is complete, if ever.
According to police records, Kraft was chauffeured to the massage parlor in a 2014 white Bentley on the evening of Jan. 19, where officers say they secretly videotaped him engaging in a sex act and then handing over an undetermined amount of cash.
A massage parlor in south suburban Orland Park has been shut down and a masseuse is charged with prostitution after she allegedly offered to perform a sex act on an undercover officer in exchange for money, according to police.
Luis Zacarias-Ahumada, 39, was charged Friday with two counts of promoting prostitution.
Four men were arrested for soliciting a prostitute along the state line between Calumet City and Hammond, police say.
Investigators appear to be interested in her ties to longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, whom she has known for a decade.
The federal government sealed the website known for selling sex.
A Chicago man was promised a finder's fee of a couple hundred dollars to recruit a teenage girl to work as a prostitute.
Some 2,500 sex buyers thought they were chatting with prostitutes Ariel, Brook or Cari. But these were really software programs.
It has been several weeks since West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, abruptly shut down — and then on Wednesday, it just as swiftly partially reopened, with some services available.
A person was killed after an armed struggle with Illinois State Police in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood on Wednesday night.
The Blackhawks won four of their last 15 games and three of their last 11 home games, but finished with 72 points, 11 more than last season.
In March 2025, Diamond Harvey and Jamari Stigler were shot and killed while sitting inside a car. The suspect was captured three days later.
Heavy rain hit Chicago Tuesday night on top of multiple rain events since March, which is why the river is rising.
A coalition of banks, credit unions, and card companies argue that Illinois lawmakers must repeal the state's first-in-the-nation Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, slated to take effect July 1.
O'Hare workers drinking on the job and CPD employees scamming the federal government were just some of the jaw-dropping findings in the latest quarterly report from the city's inspector general.
House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, claiming he has "demonstrated a willful disregard for the Constitution."
The clock is ticking for the Chicago Bears, who are running out of time to decide if they will continue to play in Illinois or cross the border into Indiana.
The City Council on Wednesday failed to override Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto of an ordinance that would have stopped scheduled pay hikes for tipped workers in Chicago.
A passenger on an American Airlines flight from New York to Chicago has been charged with making a false bomb threat that forced an emergency landing at Detroit Metro Airport last month, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Skyrocketing property taxes continue to be a hot-button issue in Cook County — particularly since last fall, when many residents saw their tax bills increase by 100% or more.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias this weekend issued a warning about a surge in text messages that falsely claim to come from his office or the DMV within it.
Tenants at a South Loop luxury high-rise that has been plagued with problems like broken elevators are vowing to fight five-day eviction notices.
It's become an annual March Madness tradition at CBS Chicago, pitting our city's best eateries in direct competition in a foodie bracket challenge. We did pizza, we've done Italian beef, we've done Chicago dogs. This year, we're taking flight with wings.
It has been several weeks since West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, abruptly shut down — and then on Wednesday, it just as swiftly partially reopened, with some services available.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 80% of deaths related to pregnancy are preventable, and Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
The United States has long struggled with understanding and finding ways to help treat mental illness. A new documentary, which is screening Saturday in Chicago, examines the reality of living with mental illness in America.
Allergy season is here, and the dreaded pollen can trigger sneezing, congestion, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
Northwestern Medicine and the American Red Cross teamed up for a community blood drive in Chicago on Monday morning.
A new restaurant has joined the busy stretch of Halsted Street toward the south end of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood that is also home to Alinea and Boka.
The federal government is suing Illinois, Connecticut and Arizona over efforts to regulate prediction market operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
The owners of the popular Uncommon Ground restaurant, live music venue, and brewery in Chicago's Wrigleyville community announced this week that they're looking for a successor to take over the business.
Chicago consistently ranks in the top three cities in Fortune 500 company headquarters, and now a competition has been launched to build on Chicago's power in business.
The flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community will be moving later this year, a restaurant representative said Tuesday.
Blues icon and world music pioneer Taj Mahal will be headlining the Chicago Blues Festival this June.
The United States has long struggled with understanding and finding ways to help treat mental illness. A new documentary, which is screening Saturday in Chicago, examines the reality of living with mental illness in America.
Afrika Bambaataa, a rapper and producer, was best known for breakthrough tracks like 1982's "Planet Rock" and for founding the Universal Zulu Nation art collective.
Mozart's "Don Giovanni," the local premiere of the 2022 opera "Omar," and a fresh production of "Guys and Dolls" are among the highlights of the 2026-2027 season for Chicago's Lyric Opera.
Federal magistrate Renee Harris Toliver told Pooh Sheisty that the evidence against him is strong.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center works to support survivors of sexual abuse through advocacy, counseling, and education.
March of Dimes is spotlighting its Doula-Hospital Integration Project, a new community-centered solution designed to improve birth outcomes for Chicago’s moms and babies.
It has been several weeks since West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, abruptly shut down — and then on Wednesday, it just as swiftly partially reopened, with some services available. Illinois state Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Illinois) has been a critic of the hospital's owner and complains that there is a lack of a plan. He joins Dana Kozlov.
The Illinois House has been holding hearings, investigating the way data centers are impacting communities.
Meteorologist Laura Bannon has the extended forecast.
A person was killed after an armed struggle with Illinois State Police in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood on Wednesday night.
A 16-year-old boy died and a 16-year-old girl was hurt in a shooting at a bus stop in Woodlawn near a high school and YMCA Wednesday afternoon.
It has been several weeks since West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, abruptly shut down — and then on Wednesday, it just as swiftly partially reopened, with some services available.
The man charged with the murder of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman, who was killed in a shooting in Rogers Park last month, was ordered by a judge to give DNA Wednesday.
In March 2025, Diamond Harvey and Jamari Stigler were shot and killed while sitting inside a car. The suspect was captured three days later.
Some parents in southwest suburban Oswego are fired up, saying the school district invited all non-white students to participate in summer remedial programming, regardless of how they're doing in school.
New proposed Illinois legislation would allow renters or people who can't install massive rooftop panels to also harness the power of the sun.
When a rusty light pole snapped and fell on a woman's car in Bucktown, causing thousands of dollars in damage, she thought the city would pay for it. She was wrong.
Financial exploitation is the leading type of elder abuse in Illinois. One Streamwood woman learned that personally, when her brother took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their parents' financial accounts.
One year after a teenage girl was shot outside her home in Country Club Hills, Illinois, and was told she would never walk again, she continued to defy the odds and reclaim her independence.
The Blackhawks won four of their last 15 games and three of their last 11 home games, but finished with 72 points, 11 more than last season.
Nico Hoerner drove in a career-high five runs, Shota Imanaga struck out 11 in six strong innings and the Chicago Cubs routed the Philadelphia Phillies 11-2 on Wednesday night.
Chicago White Sox pitching prospect Noah Schultz had an uneven major league debut in a start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night after being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
Ben Williamson doubled twice and drove in three runs as Tampa Bay spoiled the major league debut of White Sox starter Nick Schultz.
Carson Kelly hit a three-run homer, Colin Rea pitched six strong innings and the Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-4 on Tuesday night.
Chicago police on Wednesday issued an expanded community alert about a rash of incidents in which thieves broke into vehicles and stole construction equipment in and around downtown Chicago.
Chicago police on Wednesday asked the public to help them find three men who stole items from four work vans early this past Monday morning, and tried to carjack one of the vans' owners at gunpoint.
Less than 24 hours after a crash-and-grab ATM burglary at a BP station in River North, there have been two more such burglaries in Chicago — one on the Northwest Side, the other on the South.
The widow and son of late Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer were found shot to death on Chicago's West Side on Tuesday in an apparent murder-suicide.
Catalytic converters were stolen from over 30 school buses in Chicago's West Humboldt Park neighborhood.
