HARVARD, Ill. — A police officer in Harvard, Illinois came across a car illegally parked in a city park after dark on Tuesday. According to court documents, they discovered a 41-year-old Lake Geneva man with an underage teenage boy.
Rene Mondragon-Candido was charged in McHenry County, Illinois with two charges of criminal sexual assault, two charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child between the age of 13 and 16, and one count of traveling to meet a minor.
Mondragon-Candido will remain jailed in the McHenry County Correctional Facility until his trial starts on November 18.
Harvard Police Chief Carmen Sacco said his officer was doing nightly rounds at Milky Way Park just after midnight on Tuesday when they found Mondragon-Candido and the boy in the parking lot.
"It was after hours, which is against our local ordinance, so they approached the vehicle," Sacco said. "We got somebody out of a tight spot. You never know what you're going to find, it's just part of the job that we do."
According to a public posting from the McHenry County State's Attorney, Mondragon-Candido told officers the boy was his nephew before eventually admitting he met the boy on a social media app.
"I was a detective for many years and worked cases just like these," Sacco said. "Working these cases, it gets old and it gets to wear on you."
While the case moves through the legal system, Sacco said he is proud of his officer's response to the situation.
"In no way, shape, or form does that make things better in the moment given the circumstances of what's happened, but we're discovering these things by being proactive as law enforcement," Sacco said.
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