Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is speaking out after authorities say a Chicago-area man spent months talking online with what he thought was a vulnerable teenage girl.
According to authorities, the suspect, 34-year-old Joseph Hoggard, exchanged explicit messages and sought to set up meetings before discovering he was speaking with an undercover investigator from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
Undercover Operation Led to Arrest
According to investigators from the Sheriff’s Special Victims Division, the case began as part of a proactive undercover operation targeting cyber predators.
Sgt. Judith Washington posed as a 13-year-old girl on social media, and she claims Hoggard immediately started sexually explicit conversations…