Aurora man gets 4 years for molesting boy

A man was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for having sexual contact with a 13-year-old Aurora boy he met on the Internet.

Daniel A. Modaff, 39, of the 700 block of Colorado Street in Marseilles, also must register as a lifetime sex offender upon his release from prison.

Prosecutor Brian Perkins said Modaff exchanged sexually explicit text messages with the boy after befriending him on the online social network MySpace. Modaff later drove to the boy's house and inappropriately touched him on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 as the two sat in the defendant's car.

Perkins said the boy's mother found the inappropriate text messages on her son's cellular phone after she became suspicious of his activities. She immediately alerted police.

Meanwhile, Modaff continued to text the boy, who allowed police detectives to set up another encounter the next day.

Police arrested Modaff on Jan. 17 in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant on the 2500 block of Ogden Avenue in Aurora. Perkins said Modaff confessed.

"He admitted the prior sexual contact and said his intent that day was to take the victim back to his house in Marseilles and have sex with him," Perkins said.

Modaff pleaded guilty May 18 to aggravated criminal sexual abuse. DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell sentenced him Tuesday.

Modaff, a former forklift driver who did not have a prior criminal record, is eligible for parole after serving half the prison term.

"This investigation reinforces the significance of children not including personal information on their social networking pages," said Daniel Ferrelli of the Aurora Police Department. "Just as importantly, it serves as a reminder that parents must not be afraid to search through their children's personal effects, including cell phones and e-mails, and contact authorities if they sense something is awry."