Elgin police: Sex offender tried to lure Larkin student

A homeless sex offender was arrested Friday morning after he harassed a 15-year-old Larkin High School student as she walked to school, according to Elgin police and court records.

Seneca S. Freeman, 39, faces a felony charge of attempted child luring and knowingly attempting to contact a minor, according to Kane County court records.

Elgin Police Deputy Chief Bill Wolf said Freeman is accused of harassing a 15-year-old student at about 7:36 a.m. on the 1400 block of Larkin Avenue.

Freeman approached the girl and began asking if she would be his girlfriend, Wolf said. The girl went to school, told a dean, who later alerted the school liaison officer. The officer called for backup and located Freeman.

"(Freeman) didn't try to touch her or forcibly abduct her," Wolf said. "It was verbal."

Information about Freeman's previous sex offense conviction was not immediately available.

Freeman was being held at the Kane County jail on $50,000 bail. If Freeman pays $5,000 to be released, he is to have no contact with the student nor unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18.

Freeman is due in court Wednesday and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.