Preliminary Hearing Set for Sex Sting Defendant

A preliminary hearing was set for a Des Plaines man accused of trying to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual encounter overlooking Highland Park’s lakefront today in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

Peter Garbas, the attorney for Christopher Richko, 25, of Des Plaines, asked Judge Raymond Collins for a determination whether the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office has sufficient evidence to send Richko to trial.

“I’d like a date for a preliminary hearing,” Garbas said. Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Britta Peffer did not object. Collins scheduled the hearing at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 5 in Waukegan. Should a Lake County Grand Jury indict Richko before then it will replace the need for the hearing, according to Collins.

Richko was arrested for indecent solicitation of a child and solicitation to meet a child Oct. 4 after driving to Highland Park’s Central Park believing he was going to have a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl after communicating with her on the Internet, according to a news release from the Highland Park Police Department.

The girl Richko thought he was communicating with over the Internet was actually a Highland Park Police detective, according to the release.

Richko is currently being held in Lake County Jail unable to post the cash portion of a $250,000 bond. If convicted of both counts, he could face between four and 10 years in prison

This is the second time in less than three months Highland Park Police have arrested a man for indecent solicitation of a child. Robert Konieczko, 25, of Bartlett was arrested July 31 and indicted by the Lake County Grand Jury Sept. 4. His case is pending.

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