Prosecutors have charged a man with traveling to Target in Shorewood to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl to engage in unlawful sexual conduct.
On Monday, Judge Ken Zelazo signed a $50,000 bond warrant for the arrest of Jacob Schendel, 24, of Cary on charges of traveling to Shorewood to meet a child and solicitation to meet a child, court records show.
Prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint that on May 3, Schendel traveled to the 1111 Brook Forest Ave. Target for the “purposes of engaging in any sex offenses … or to otherwise engage in other unlawful sexual conduct” with a person believed by him to be a child under 17.
The child was actually the persona of then-19-year-old Shane Divis, a member of the the group Save Our Siblings, according to prosecutors.
Shorewood Deputy Police Chief Jason Barten said police initially received a call from a person at Target who reported a disturbance involving a group of men yelling and screaming at another man about attempting to meet a 15-year-old girl for a sexual encounter.
The Save Our Siblings group later contacted Shorewood police and provided video of the incident, Barten said.
The group posted the video on May 8 on YouTube under the title, “Union Welder Pedophile!!”
Investigators were able to identify Schendel as the offender and speak with him during the investigation, Barten said.
“We are actively attempting to locate him,” Barten said.
On the same day as the incident, Schendel had been ticketed by Illinois State Police on a charge of speeding 26 to 34 mph over the speed limit. He pleaded guilty to the offense on June 3 and was sentenced to a year of court supervision, court records show.
Another Shorewood police investigation of an incident involving Save Our Siblings led prosecutors to charge John Resedean, 39, with traveling to meet a child, indecent solicitation of a child, grooming and solicitation to meet a child.
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Resedean’s case remains pending.
Resedean was accused by prosecutors of traveling to Lover’s Lane in Shorewood on April 24 to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with someone he thought was a minor but was actually a 16-year-old persona used by Divis.
The Save Our Siblings’ video of the incident no longer appears on their YouTube page.
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