Police: Frankfort Square man sought child for sex on Craigslist.com

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Mugshot of Brandon J. Bergthold, 25, of Frankfort, Illinois.

Updated: March 1, 2012 8:26AM

A Frankfort Square man, seeking “fathers willing to share their daughters” via an ad on Craigslist, pushed aggressively for a meeting last weekend with a man he thought was offering his young daughter for sex, authorities said.

But the little girl didn’t exist. The “father” was an undercover officer for the Cook County sheriff’s police child exploitation unit.

Now, Brandon J. Bergthold is being held at the Will County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail, facing charges of indecent solicitation and traveling to meet a minor.

Bergthold, 25, of 7752 W. North Ave., told police he’s addicted to child pornography and thanked them for arresting him outside a motel in New Lenox Township, prosecutors said. He didn’t face child pornography charges as of Friday, but police said they will search his computer.

Sheriff’s police in Cook and Will counties said they had been investigating Bergthold since Nov. 30 when they discovered his Craiglist postings and an officer answered his query by pretending to be the father of a 6-year-old girl.

Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas said it wasn’t until last weekend that Bergthold pushed for a meeting with the supposed father and daughter.

“Bergthold’s demeanor changed,” Kaupas said. “He communicated a sense of urgency in wanting to meet with the undercover officer and the … child. We became worried that he may seek out an unsuspecting victim if we did not end this investigation.”

Arrangements were made, and Bergthold drove to the 700 block of East Lincoln Highway to meet the imaginary man and his daughter, prosecutors said. They also said he hoped to have sex with a 11-year-old female cousin of the girl.

Seeking a high bail, prosecutors told Will County Circuit Court Judge Marzell Richardson that Bergthold had posted more than 117 messages on Craigslist looking for sex with minors, women who want to be raped and “hermaphrodite sex.”