Man faces child sex crime charges after sting

A former Hinsdale man is charged with child sex abuse-related crimes, while being on probation in Minnesota after being convicted there for similar crimes.

Derrick D. Willman, 58, of the 1100 block of North Clark Street, Chicago, was arrested Friday after an undercover investigation by Downers Grove police, according to DuPage County court records.

He is charged with indecent solicitation of a child — aggravated criminal sexual abuse, traveling to meet a minor, and grooming.

On Friday, Judge Joshua Dieden ordered Willman be detained pretrial.

According to the prosecution’s petition for detention, a Downers Grove police officer pretended to be a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room for teenagers. Willman began exchanging sexually oriented messages offline with the officer beginning Nov. 7, 2024, the petition said. His profile listed him as 17, but he told the officer he was 57 and asked if that would be a problem, according to the petition.

The petition says he arranged to meet the person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl at a hotel in Downers Grove to have sexual relations.

Willman was convicted of solicitation to meet a child in 2023 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the petition shows. According to Minnesota court records, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail, five years of probation, and ordered to register for life as a sex offender.

In his order, Dieden noted Willman had been ordered to avoid unsupervised contact with minors, and was undergoing treatment, as part of his sentence.