A 22-year-old Omaha, Neb., man who drove to Fox Lake to try to consummate a 6-month cyber-affair with a 12-year-old Fox Lake girl pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to molest the girl.
Adam Avery pleaded guilty Monday to one count of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Under the terms of his plea agreement with the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, the maximum penalty Avery faces when sentenced Dec. 28 is 6 months in Lake County jail and 18 months of work release, according to Assistant State’s Atty. Christen Bishop. Avery is a student at an Omaha college and has no prior criminal history, Bishop said.
Avery and the girl met in an Internet chat room in January, Bishop said. Although the girl initially told Avery that she was 21, in March she told him her true age, Bishop said. The two arranged to meet at a Fox Lake motel on June 28, according to Bishop.
Shortly after the girl left to meet Avery at the designated place and time, her sister told their mother where the child had gone, Bishop said. The mother reportedly rushed to the motel, arriving just moments after her daughter, Bishop said. The mother called police from the motel, and police arrested Avery.