Round Lake man pleads guilty to using social media to solicit child for sex
A Round Lake man pleaded guilty Monday to charges he arranged to meet a 9-year-old girl for sex.
Devan Bald, 18, was sentenced to 24 months of intensive probation and 100 hours of community service after the negotiated guilty plea to one count of indecent solicitation of a child in front of Lake County Judge Mark Levitt.
Bald was also ordered to submit to sex offender treatment, is ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years, and is not allowed to have unsupervised visits with anyone under 17 years of age. He is also not allowed to use the Internet while on probation except for school and work.
If Bald does everything required of him and stays out of trouble, the charge will be reduced from a class 1 felony to a class 4 felony, Levitt said.
"It's certainly in your interest to comply with this and make sure nothing ever happens like this again," Levitt said after approving the plea agreement. "Let's not let anybody down."
Bald could have been sentenced to 4 to 15 years in prison if found guilty on all four of the counts of indecent solicitation of child with which he was charged. The remaining counts against him were dropped by prosecutors as part of the plea agreement.
Bald has been free from Lake County jail since posting the required 10 percent of his $200,000 bail after his June 6 arrest.
Authorities said a sexual conversation between Bald and a 9-year-old girl on Facebook was discovered by the girl's father, who turned over the information to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
A detective with the Lake County Sheriff's cybercrimes unit posed as the victim to set up a meeting with Bald. The Round Lake man was arrested when he arrived at the meeting location, authorities said.
During an interview after his arrest, Bald told detectives his intentions were to meet the girl to engage in sexual activities, authorities said.
"I am deeply sorry for my actions," Bald told Levitt.