Downstate man denies internet solicitation

A resident of downstate Pekin pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he solicited sex from an undercover police officer he thought was a teenage girl.

Mark Sarnes, 49, is charged with indecent solicitation of a child and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said Sarnes engaged in Internet chat room banter with an undercover Lake County sheriff's detective who claimed she was a 15-year-old girl.

During the last week of March, Stanton said, the chatter turned sexual and Sarnes asked the detective if they could meet to have sex.

A meeting was set up for March 27 in central Lake County, Stanton said, and Lake County sheriff's officers who were waiting nearby took Sarnes into custody when he arrived at the meeting.

Associate Judge Christopher Stride scheduled a trial of the case for July 6 and told Sarnes, who is free on $5,000 bond, to appear in court again June 22.