A man accused of using Internet "instant messaging" to lure a 13-year-old girl from the Rolling Meadows Public Library to a nearby park has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse, a felony, police said.
Christopher Mundschenk, 19, of the 3400 block of Peacock Lane, Rolling Meadows, was arrested Wednesday, but police said the incident occurred about two weeks ago. Police said they were not notified until Monday, when the girl said she saw Mundschenk at the library again and asked a friend to call 911.
Police said Mundschenk gave a written confession. "We're concerned that there may possibly be more victims," said Detective Tom Gadomski.
Law enforcement and library officials said such incidents are uncommon at libraries, but stressed that the "don't talk to strangers" rule applies as much to the Internet as on the street.
"There is absolutely nothing, short of turning off the terminal, to save the child from getting into e-mails or chat rooms through Web sites," said Mitch Freedman, president of the American Library Association.
The day of the incident, the girl was with friends in the children's section of the library when they began communicating with Mundschenk through an instant messaging program, police said.
"He asked them what they looked like--height, weight, bra size," Gadomski said.
Mundschenk had been messaging from the adult section one floor up and went downstairs to talk to the girls. Later, he messaged at least one girl to meet him at Kimball Hill Park, where he is accused of assaulting her.
The library has installed filtering software on its computers to block access to pornographic Web sites. But chat rooms, instant messaging and e-mail are more difficult to monitor.
"We're not going to police them by sitting right next to them," said David Ruff, the library director. "We couldn't. There aren't enough staff members.
"I'm not certain how the library could do anything differently. . . . Children need to know not to go off with strangers."
Mundschenk's attorney, Robert L. Arnold, said his client had been under psychiatric care from childhood through high school but recently stopped taking medication.
Mundschenk was treated Thursday after being involved in an altercation with a man in the Cook County courthouse lockup. Mundschenk's bail was set at $50,000.
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