Man sentenced to prison for sexually abusing girl he met via Snapchat
A Naperville man has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl he met over the social media platform Snapchat.
James R. Nead, 30, was found guilty after a three-day trial in July on three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, one count of solicitation to meet a child and one count of traveling to meet a child, authorities said.
Nead must serve at least 50% of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He was given credit for the 3⅓ years he has been held in the DuPage County jail since his arrest June 29, 2020.
According to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, the girl received a message on Snapchat in June 2019 from an account belonging to Nead. They exchanged photographs through the app and, several days later, Nead threatened to release the photos if she did not meet him.
She met him at a strip mall near her house and got in to his car, where he sexually abused her, according to prosecutors.
Later that day she blocked him on her Snapchat account, but he contacted her through a different account and again tried to blackmail her, according to prosecutors. The victim's father then called police.
There is an arrest warrant for Nead in Polk County, Wisconsin, where he is charged with sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 and child enticement. According to court records, he is accused of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl in 2018, and again in 2019. They met and chatted on social media accounts, according to the records. Wisconsin is seeking to extradite Nead.