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A 27-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced in McHenry County court to eight years in prison for targeting children on social media and coercing them to send sexual images to him, according to prosecutors and court records.
Victor Meza-Valdez, 27, of Ringwood, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to a Class X charge of possessing images of child sexual abuse and also to grooming for a combined sentence of eight years, handed down Tuesday by Judge Tiffany Davis. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.
As part of the negotiated plea, other charges related to images of child sexual abuse and grooming were dropped.
The Lake in the Hills Police Department started an investigation Jan. 9 after a report was made by a middle school student that a 26-year-old man was contacting the student through Snapchat, according to a McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office news release. Police discovered another victim at a Huntley middle school, where the investigation was referred to the state’s attorney’s Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The task force was able to identify the man contacting two children as Meza-Valdez through an investigation with Lake in the Hills Police Detective John Arient.
Through subpoenas to cellphone and social media providers, the task force found evidence that Meza-Valdez “targeted the young girls via social media, grooming them to send photos and coercing them to virtually engage in various sexual acts,” according to the release. The task force worked with New Jersey law enforcement to find and bring Meza-Valdez back to McHenry County to be prosecuted.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese thanked Arient, “who provided invaluable information to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office Crimes Against Children Task Force to bring justice to these young victims,” according to the release. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Vonau.
Since its inception in 2023, the task force has partnered with local law enforcement agencies in McHenry County to investigate more than 55 cases of children sexual and physical abuse allegations, according to the release.