Florida man traveled to Huntley for 14-year-old girl, police say
An 18-year-old Florda man appeared in a McHenry County courtroom Thursday facing allegations he traveled to Huntley earlier this month to have sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl he had been corresponding with online, then left the area with the girl, apparently destined for his home state.
Ervin Betancourt, of Miramar, Fla., is charged with grooming - using the Internet to seduce a minor into having sex - and criminal sexual abuse stemming from a Huntley Police investigation launched Aug. 3 when the girl's family reported she had run away from home. If convicted, he faces a maximum one to three years in prison.
The investigation, police said, indicated that Betancourt and the girl had been corresponding over the Internet for about four months when they decided he would travel up from Florida to meet her in person. The girl's parents, Deputy Police Chief Todd Fulton said, were unaware of their daughter's online relationship with Betancourt.
After Betancourt arrived in Huntley, police said, he and the 14-year-old decided to take a bus together back to his home northwest of Miami.
Fulton said that through interviews with the girl's friends, who knew of her correspondence with Betancourt, police learned of her likely destination and determined they might be passing through the town of Dalton, Ga., on their way to Florida. Detectives contacted the Whitfield County (Ga.) Sheriff's Department, whose deputies located them on a bus in Dalton, police said.
Subsequent interviews with the girl led to the charges claiming Betancourt had sexual relations with the girl and used the Internet to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child under the age of 18 years old to commit or engage in an unlawful sexual conduct, according to police.
Betancourt waived extradition through the Georgia courts and on Tuesday Huntley detectives traveled to Dalton and brought him back to McHenry County. He was freed Thursday after posting $1,500 bond and is scheduled to return to court Aug. 16.
The 14-year-old girl is back with her parents, Fulton said.