A Wheaton man pled guilty to trying to pay to have sex with a minor in west suburban Aurora.
Jarrett Ferguson, 27, drove to an unspecified location in Aurora March 10 expecting to have have a sexual encounter with a minor in exchange for cash, according to a statement from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.
On Friday, Ferguson agreed to a three-year prison sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to a felony charge of traveling to meet a minor, state’s attorney’s office said. He will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Ferguson received credit for serving two days in the Kane County Jail, the state’s attorney’s office said. He had been free on a signature bond.
Ferguson’s conviction is the latest in a larger investigation by Homeland Security and Aurora police targeting people seeking to have sex with children, the state’s attorney’s office said. He is the 14th person to be found guilty in recent years as a result of the effort.
“Human trafficking and child sex exploitation is a very real problem that exists in every community,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said in the statement. “Our office remains committed to working with law enforcement to ending this abhorrent crime.”
