Sandwich man charged with alleged prostitution patronizing with minor

SANDWICH – A Sandwich man has been arrested and charged with engaging in prostitution with a minor earlier this week.

Timothy S. Dickerson, 51, of the 900 block of Vincent Avenue, Sandwich, was arrested Tuesday, Sept. 16 by Sandwich police on a $20,000 bond warrant. He has been charged with patronizing a minor engaged in prostitution, a Class 3 felony, according to DeKalb County court documents.

In October 2016, Dickerson allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a 17 year old in exchange for a Titan X Pascal gaming graphics card valued at about $1,500, according to court documents.

Dickerson also was charged with two counts of misdemeanor distributing harmful materials to a minor – or an adult showing sexually graphic images to a minor, according to court records.

If convicted, DeKalb County Judge Philip Montgomery said in court on Wednesday, Dickerson could face up to 10 years in prison for the felony charge on an extended term.

Montgomery said there appears to be two victims attached to Dickerson's charges. One of the victims is an adult now but was a minor at the time of the alleged incident. The other victim is currently a minor.

If Dickerson is convicted of either misdemeanor charge, he could face less than a year in jail for each.

Montgomery set a $5,000 recognizance bond for Dickerson in court on Wednesday.

When Montgomery asked Dickerson about a lawyer, Dickerson said, "My parents will provide one for me."

"You're 51 years old and your parents are going to help you out?" Montgomery asked.

DeKalb County Assistant State's Attorney Alicia Caplan filed a motion requesting Dickerson to have no contact with any minors and to not be allowed to use the internet.

"It's my understanding he used apps such as Discord to contact some of these individuals and request that they come over to engage in these activities," Caplan said.

Montgomery granted Caplan's request for no unsupervised contact with minors and ordered that Dickerson cannot use the internet in court Wednesday.

Sandwich Police Chief Jim Bianchi said police also confiscated multiple articles of electronic computer systems and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and three rifles from Dickerson's home following a search warrant on Tuesday.

Dickerson said in court Wednesday he lives alone and Montgomery said Dickerson has no criminal history. Bianchi said that Dickerson is on disability currently.

Bianchi said the multiple victims involved in the charges against Dickerson are local.

"The investigation is going to continue for other alleged sexual misconduct," Bianchi said.

Bianchi said police are confident that there are more victims of Dickerson out there. He said he urges those other victims to come forward if they have more information to provide Sandwich police.

Bianchi said Dickerson was transferred to DeKalb County Jail Tuesday evening after previously being in Sandwich police's custody.

Dickerson is due back in court 9 a.m. Nov. 13.

• Daily Chronicle editor Kelsey Rettke contributed to this story.