http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/front_photo.cgi?prcss=display&id=381116

By Tamara Sharman
tsharman@daily-journal.com
815-937-3371

Northern Illinois University professor Qingwei Yao thought he was soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet, police said.

But his partner in the illicit flirtation on a commonly used chat room was a police officer with the recently formed Kankakee County Cyber Crimes Task Force, law enforcement officials announced at a Tuesday press conference.

Yao allegedly arranged to meet the "girl" in Kankakee County, police said. Task force agents apprehended Yao on Friday when he arrived in anticipation of a sexual rendezvous. Kankakee County Sheriff Tim Bukowski said Yao "sought to engage in explicit sexual acts" with the underage girl.

Yao, a 43-year-old chemistry professor at NIU in DeKalb, is charged with six counts of indecent solicitation of a child on the Internet. He was jailed overnight at the Jerome Combs Detention Center and was released Saturday after posting bond.

NIU officials are cooperating with the task force investigation. Police seized computers belonging to the university and used by Yao. They will be examined in search of child pornography and to determine if Yao has approached other victims.

Authorities have not found a criminal record for Yao in the United States. He entered the U.S. in 1991 on a student visa from China. Yao became an American citizen in 1998.

The cyber crimes task force includes representatives from the Kankakee County Sheriff's Police, the Manteno Police Department, Grant Park Police Department and the Kankakee County State's Attorney's Office. Task force members arrested another man over the weekend in a case that mirrors Yao's situation. They are the task force's first arrests.

Nicholas Garcia, a 28-year-old Bradley man, was arrested Saturday. Police said Garcia also used the Internet to sexually solicit an underage teenage girl. Garcia's partner in the chat room conversations was a task force officer.

Task force officers log into a chat room using a profile showing a specific age and gender. The predators look at that and start a conversation, Manteno Police Chief Bernie Thompson explained. "In these two cases and some others, it went very quickly to the sex talk and the resulting arrests," Thompson said.

"They weren't hiding their identities or anything else," Undersheriff Brad O'Keefe said of Yao and Garcia. Yao even admitted to his victim that he was a teacher, O'Keefe said.

Garcia, who is unemployed, was arrested after allegedly arranging to meet the girl for a sexual encounter. Police seized computers and other materials linked to the investigation.

Kankakee County prosecutors charged Garcia with three counts of indecent solicitation of a child. He is free on bond.

"No one was harmed in these cases, but it clearly demonstrates to us that there is a high degree of risk and parents should be observant," Bukowski said.

The task force continues to investigate. More arrests are expected.

Comments
6 comments on this article
Posted by katie from bourbonnais at 11:53AM on Wednesday, 10/25/06
This nick guy is weird i thought that the first time i met him... i know who he is through a friend and i got a weird vibe from him and this proves it.
Posted by FormerNIUStudent from bourbonnais, il at 12:41PM on Wednesday, 10/25/06
OMG! He was my organic chem teacher! He failed me! Maybe if I had dressed as a 13 y/o he would have passed me :-
Posted by some anonymous person at 3:30PM on Wednesday, 10/25/06
The creeps must go
Posted by Brianna from St.Anne at 5:43AM on Thursday, 10/26/06
Thank you so much for getting these preditors off the street.
Posted by Bill from Momence at 7:46AM on Thursday, 10/26/06
Keep up the good work Sheriff
Posted by some anonymous person at 8:52PM on Thursday, 10/26/06
i knew Nick and i just hate him so much for doing something like this i thought i could trust him but apparently i was wrong. he brought this on himself he knew what he was doing and he went with it anyway not thinking about anything. He was my friend but he ruined it.

http://www.chiamonline.org/News/InEnglish/2006/Oct/06yao.htm

Yao accused of soliciting girl

Qingwei Yao, a Northern Illinois University associate professor, was charged with six counts of indecent solicitation of a child on the Internet in Kankakee County in an attempt to meet the person he thought was a 13-year-old girl he had contacted on the Internet. Yao posted $10,000 bail on October 21. Yao, 43, who teaches chemistry and biochemistry since 1998. Much of his research focuses on the synthetic construction of organic materials. Yao entered the United States in 1991 on a student visa and became a citizen eight years ago. (Source: Chicago Tribune, Oct 25, 2006).