Cary man jailed on solicitation charge
A Cary man has been jailed in Will County on charges alleging he traveled to a Target in Shorewood to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl for an unlawful sexual encounter.
About 4:25 p.m. Tuesday, Jacob Schendel, 24, of the 6400 block of Rawson Bridge Road was booked into the Will County jail on felony charges of traveling to meet a minor and solicitation to meet a minor.
On Nov. 22, Judge Ken Zelazo signed a $50,000 bond warrant for Schendel's arrest.
On Wednesday, Schendel was not able to make his court appearance because he was in quarantine as part of a COVID-19 protocol at the jail, court records show.
Schendel is scheduled for an arraignment Jan. 26.
Prosecutors alleged that on May 3, Schendel traveled to the Target at 1111 Brook Forest Ave. for the "purposes of engaging in any sex offenses … or to otherwise engage in other unlawful sexual conduct" with a person believed by him to be a child younger than 17.
The child was actually the persona of Shane Divis, a member of the the group Save Our Siblings, according to prosecutors.
Shorewood Deputy Police Chief Jason Barten said police initially received a call from a person at Target who reported a disturbance involving a group of men who confronted Schendel.
The Save Our Siblings group later contacted Shorewood police and provided video of the incident, Barten said.