Iowa man charged with seeking sex from girl, 12, in Bridgeview

SHARE Iowa man charged with seeking sex from girl, 12, in Bridgeview
screen_shot_2017_02_12_at_8_37_01_pm.png

Michael Bronkhorst | Bridgeview police

A 46-year-old Iowa man was charged Sunday with soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl after he tried to meet her in southwest suburban Bridgeview. 

Michael G. Bronkhorst was taken into custody about 2:15 p.m. on Harlem Avenue near 77th Street when he walked to a fast food restaurant expecting to meet a Bridgeview girl he had been texting with, Bridgeview police said. He was charged with indecent solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a minor — both felonies. 

The girl did not meet Bronkhorst, police said. Detectives set up the meeting after the girl’s parents informed authorities about the conversation on her phone and gave them permission to continue the conversation. Bronkhorst drove from Iowa to the fast food restaurant and parked his semi-truck and trailer expecting to meet the girl.

Police said the girl was 12 years old when their investigation began in late December.

Bronkhorst was expected to appear in court Monday.


The Latest
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”
That the Bears can just diesel their way in, Bronko Nagurski-style, and attempt to set a sweeping agenda for the future of one of the world’s most iconic water frontages is more than a bit troubling.