After a monthlong undercover operation in which a police officer posed as a 14-year-old Orland Park girl in an Internet chat room, police Monday arrested a 27-year-old North Carolina man on the federal charge of travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile.
Jeffrey Crutchfield of Wilmington, N.C., allegedly flew to Orland Park, checked into a local hotel and was expecting to meet with a teenager, but was instead confronted with officers from the Orland Park Police Department and the FBI, said Orland Park Police Cmdr. Charles Doll.
Crutchfield appeared before a federal magistrate Tuesday and was denied bond. He is being held in Cook County Jail.
Meanwhile, police in North Carolina searched Crutchfield’s home and confiscated a computer and computer files, said Doll.
The undercover operation resulted in the department’s first Internet-related arrest since the Internet Investigations Unit began a year ago. The department consists of one detective working part-time investigating complaints of thefts, harassment and sexual exploitation on the Internet. Many times, complaints are outside of the village’s jurisdiction and are referred to state or federal authorities, said Doll.
Doll said the Internet Investigations Unit is a necessary component of the Police Department’s services. “There are people out there who want to prey on others. Maybe we saved somebody in Orland Park or in California or somewhere else from being victimized,” he said.