What did you come here for? I'm just strictly to meet her and get some pizza. Strictly to meet the 13-year-old that you were having sexual conversations with. Oh, when you put it that way, it sounds bad. This 44-year-old drove for 2 hours thinking he was meeting a 13-year-old. In reality, the only thing waiting for him was a surprise from police. On July 17th, an undercover investigator posing as a young female was contacted by the suspect who sent numerous explicit messages. Two days later, the suspect asks to meet in person, raising serious concerns about his intentions. The investigator agrees to a set time and location, and local authorities are notified. When he arrives, officers move in to confront him. It's all right, man. I'm I'm fine. How are you? How are you? I'm good. I'm Detective Harmon, I'm with the Sheriff's Office. Do you have your license with you? Don't reach for it, I'm just asking you. I do. Do you have it with you? Okay. What's your name, sir? Philip? We're working burglary details, and we've been getting hit back here, and we see your car keep moving from parking lot to parking lot. When I read your registration, I saw you're not from the neighborhood. >> No, I live in McHenry. Okay, what brings you this way? Just heading home. Okay. Where are you coming from? Wayne's Pizza. What were you doing over there? I heard it was good, so I went to go there. >> they have great pizza. They have great pizza. How'd you end up there? Recommendation through a friend. Recommendation through a friend. So, you left Wayne's. Where do you live? What town? McHenry. McHenry? Are you heading to McHenry now? I'm heading home, yes. Okay. All right. Where's your ID at? Do you have your ID? I can reach for it. It's in >> Are there any firearms in the car? No, there's not. Okay. Where's your Where's your ID? It's in my pocket. Here, do me a favor, step out. Sure. Go ahead and make that call. Do you mind if I pat you down to make sure you don't have any weapons on you? Keep your hands up. And what did you say your name was, sir? Philip. You must have a dog. I have two dogs. >> Spread your feet for me a little bit. Where were you Where were you before Wayne's? At home. At home? So, you were at home, came out to Wayne's, and you're headed back home? Yes, sir. Okay. Where's your phone at? Uh right there on my And your ID's here in your Right here in my pocket. Come stand over here and talk >> You're not under arrest, okay? Can I see your ID? Can I reach here? Yeah, absolutely. You don't have any firearms or knives that I need to check for? >> No, sir. >> I felt something in this pocket. Do you mind Those are my keys. Do you mind if I just see them make sure there's no knife? >> Absolutely. Thank you. Is that your phone ringing? It is. Okay. My hands were supposed to help him move today. What's that? Supposed to help my buddy move today. Obviously, you may assume why we're really here. Okay, I just want to be honest with you. Okay. Some concerned parents called us. I've been here like 30 seconds. that someone had been messaging one of their children Okay. And I'm glad we were in a position to come speak with you before that happened. Officers keep the details quiet at first, allowing him to talk, hoping he'll admit why he showed up. >> Were you back here to meet anybody? I was, but there was no intention. Who were you back here to meet? I'm not sure of her name. Okay. And you said there was no no intention of what? >> And no sexual intention. >> Okay. How about kidnapping intention? Perhaps. >> Of course. Are you dealing with drugs? No, I don't No, I don't do drugs. No, sir. No cocaine or meth or anything like Another blatant lie, as the suspect would constantly mention substance abuse in his messages. Would it be okay if we check for any drugs? >> Absolutely. Okay. Come on over here and stand with me for a minute. Did you run him? Uh, no, but I will. Tell you what, come on over here for a minute. Her parents reached out to us. I don't blame them. And she was concerned The mom was concerned that her daughter was speaking with someone. I don't >> how old her daughter was? I have no idea, to be honest. What How'd you start talking with her? Uh, some random chat site. Like an like a My back in the day for me was AIM, right? No, it's not AIM. I honestly don't know how I came across it. Were you chatting with her? Just texting? Regular texting? Yes. Okay. So, you weren't chatting on a website or anything like that? It was on a website, yes. Oh, it was on a website. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, you said there's no firearms in the car, nothing like that. Whose vehicle is this? It's mine. This is yours? And do you use it for work? Yes. What do you do for work? I work for a company called Matthews Company. The staffing service? No, I get that a lot. Yeah, cuz they're a staffing >> produce we produce grain dryers for farmers. Oh, okay. Do you install them or do you build them? >> I just build them. So, you're not back here doing any burglaries or anything like that? Oh, of course not. You just came back here Did you come back here to talk to her or what? What was the intention? >> Just to talk. Tell you what, do me a favor, turn around. I'm going to put you in handcuffs right now, okay? I'm going to detain you while we're conducting our investigation. Okay. I'll explain a little bit more to you. Obviously, everyone that, you know, is in handcuffs and in our custody Notice I didn't park blocking your car or anything like that. >> Uh-huh. But, once they're in our custody, I got to read them their Miranda rights. I like to do everything by the book. I wear my body camera. Everything's on the up and up, okay? Do those Do those fit okay? Yes. All right, I'm going to set them so they don't collapse down on your wrists, okay? Come on over here. I'm going to have you have a seat in my car. Okay. Sit in the front. Front? Yeah. In the front. Okay. Give me 1 second. I'll get the laptop out of the way. So, this is not comfortable. Yeah, I know. They're they're They're not meant to be. I believe it. Um so, can I call you Philip or Yeah, you can call me Phil. Okay. I Exactly what I told you. Just came out here to meet somebody. I was I was I was going to >> going to take her to pizza. On the website When you say on the website, what type of website would that be? Uh it's a chat site. It's not It's not a dating site. It's just a chat site. Like chat really? Like cuz I I don't really chat. I don't either. That's why it's so weird. Okay. What were you guys talking about? Random random stuff, work, life. What has she told you about herself? Not much, really. She likes pizza. I know that. >> Well, everybody loves pizza, right? So, you said your name was Philip? Yes, sir. Where's the ignition key to the car? It's a push button. It's But, do you got to have a fob or anything? Yes. Where's the fob? Is it on you? In my right pocket. I'm going to read these to you just so you understand them, okay? You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to and consult with a lawyer prior to any questioning. You have the right to be present while you are being questioned. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer. If you are unable to afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one for you. Do you understand those rights? >> Yes, sir. All right, I'm going to kind of fill you in on what's going on. We're going to go back to my station. I want to just have a little bit more conversation and understanding of what happened. I don't want to put you on blast out here in front of everybody, okay? I think that's important. We'll take a ride back to my station and kind of discuss what's going on. Like I said, the important part is nobody got hurt. You didn't even meet this girl. You know, the parents contacted us right away. You understand? Of course. >> So, I'm going to put your seat belt on for you and we'll get going right away cuz I know you want to get home. So, we're going to try to make this as quick as we can, okay? Okay. Thank you. Have you ever been arrested before? Yeah, not recently. Okay. All right, is that seat belt okay? I'm going to set this up a little for you. That's fine. You okay? You want to hop in with me? Cool if I talk to him over there? Let's throw that up there. It makes life a little easier for all of us. Help me understand that how we got here again today. You met this girl on an app? No, it wasn't an app. It's just a website. What website? Uh chat IB. Chat what? IB. IB. It's so weird. How'd you find [clears throat] that? I honestly have no idea. Cruising the internet? >> Yes. Okay. It's very, very random. Fair enough. So, you When did you start talking to her? Uh last week, I believe. Cuz I don't I want to make sure, obviously, that she's not embellishing the story and exaggerating it too. So, I I want to hear your side of it. If I was in your position, I I would obviously want to be able to say my side of the story, too. So, you talked to her last week, you started talking to her? Uh throughout the week. Throughout the week? Okay. What day Do you remember what day you started chatting with her? I don't know the day. How How'd that conversation start? Who initiated that? Uh it was probably me. Okay. Does she like How does that How does that work again? Like does she post a profile and you reach out to her like on Facebook? No, it's just a random It's honestly really weird. It's just a bunch of people. There's profiles, but there's no like pictures or information. They just say male or female. Does it give Does it reach out? >> give their like location? No. Well, it'll say the state, but it doesn't necessarily say they're in this state. Does it give their age? Well, I mean the minimum is 18, yeah. Okay. But does it show an age? It does. Okay. And what did her age show? I believe it said 18. 18? Okay. You can't go less than that. Okay, I got you. Did you know Facebook you used to have to be 18 to for starting? Not on Facebook. I have no idea. I'm not super familiar with the interwebs, but I was a MySpace guy and Yeah, I liked MySpace. >> I liked I did like MySpace, not going to lie. Yeah. Does it say like an ethnicity or anything? No. Okay. So, it's just a picture? Yeah, you can post a picture, I guess, but I didn't see anything like that. So, you see her profile. Did you reach out to anybody else? Oh, probably hundreds of people. Okay. And what? She replied to you? She did reply, yeah. Okay. And you guys then what? Started conversation? Yes. Just real friendly? Yeah. Okay. What kind of stuff did you guys talk about? Random stuff, work, life, pizza. >> [laughter] >> You said she likes pizza? Apparently. Why is that? I don't know. She recommended wings. Oh, wings is good. Do you guys Does the conversation ever ever turn sexual? Of course. Okay. And what is it What is that conversation include? Favorite positions. Did you ever offer her money in exchange for Absolutely not. Did you ever ask her for sex? No. How about oral sex? No. Did she say how old she was? I I believe she said she was 13, but that would have That's when I was curious to find out. Is that why you came here? You're curious to find out if she was 13? Well, yeah. If she was too young, then I wouldn't have stayed. Now, from my understanding as we reviewed her messages, there were conversations about like you hoped she'd put her lips around you. Was there anything else sexually you said that you were that you wanted her to do with you? I'm sure there wasn't a lot. But again, it's all online fantasy football. Right, but like what other thing I guess what I'm trying to get at I'm trying to make sure it's not a kidnapping or sexual assault or rape. It's not a kidnapping or a sexual assault or rape. Do you believe it would be consensual sex you guys had? I wouldn't have had sex with her. What did you come here for? Just to strictly to meet her and get some pizza. Strictly to meet the 13-year-old that you were having sexual conversations with. Oh, if you put it that way it sounds bad. Well, and that's what I'm trying to understand. Here's the important part, Phil. This is why I want the truth, okay? I know I know you haven't been in this position before. You know, there's that old motto, the truth will set you free. But realistically, you Did you have sex with the minor? Did you even meet her today? No. Is anyone hurt? Absolutely not. Right. So, as you said it's some internet fun, right? Correct. But the the truth is the important part. Right. Did you bring some condoms today? No, I did not. You have no condoms today? No. Did you bring alcohol today? No. How about weed? No. Do you have any pictures of any underage girls on your computer at home? No. Do you I don't have a computer. Or you you work tablet or anything? Oh, absolutely not. How about on your telephone? No. Nothing like I got pictures of her, but she's not nude. Okay. Nothing like the pictures she sent you? Yes. Did you ask her to send you those pictures? Yes, I did. Okay. Fair enough. We're going to get my station right up here. We'll get inside. I'm going to just check you one more time and make sure you don't have any weapons or anything that could harm me. I'll get those handcuffs off of you. I know they're not comfortable. No, they're not they're not comfortable. Is there anyone you need to call or anything? No. I appreciate you being cooperative. You can call me Phil or Phil. Phil or Phil. Do you mind if I call you Just call me man. Kind of the same thing. I'll call you F officer man. Officer man, I like it. That's a nice ring to it. I've been called worse. I'm sure you have. >> [laughter] >> I have. I respect your position, no doubt. >> Thank you. You know, I try to treat everyone >> Especially the last few years. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it definitely gets crazy sometimes. We've had some wild days, we've had some long days. Believe me, there's some days we've started at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning and gone into the evening hours. And then you get It's good to do. Yeah. Well, especially fighting on the guns and drugs. Unfortunately, the the violence seems to be increasing. Yeah, it has, baby. Frankly, I just want everyone to be safe. Like, people are going to have disagreements, but if they can settle them without shooting each other, that'd be all right with me. That would be ideal. That's why I don't interact with a lot of people. Definitely. I'm a loner. Hey. Don't need to shift to 5502. Assault and 5502 are out of T. I didn't know that. All right, we'll get you out real quick. Let's see. All right. Let me get your seatbelt off you. And my buddy Leo here will help you out. Oh, you got the seatbelt on? I can get it. Yeah, he took it off. So, we're going to walk around around the car right here. Okay. The suspect was charged with indecent solicitation, grooming, and traveling for nefarious intentions. Let us know your thoughts on this video in the comments, and be sure to subscribe for more body cam footage daily.