Naperville resident guilty of sexually abusing girl he met on app
A DuPage County jury on Thursday convicted a Naperville resident of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl he met on social media
After a three-day trial, James Nead, 30, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, one count of solicitation to meet a child and one count of traveling to meet a child, the state's attorney's office announced.
Nead faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced. He has been in custody at the DuPage County jail on $150,000 since his arrest on June 29, 2020.
In June 2019, the victim received a message on Snapchat from an account belonging to Nead. She and Nead exchanged photographs through the app, and several days later, Nead threatened to release the photos if she did not meet him, authorities said.
The victim met Nead at a strip mall near her house and got into his car, where he sexually abused her, according to the news release.
Later that day, the victim blocked Nead from her Snapchat account, but Nead contacted her through a different account and again tried to blackmail her, authorities said. The victim's father then contacted police.
Nead's next court date is Aug. 31.