Staff Reports
CIRCLEVILLE – An Illinois man was arrested in Circleville Friday for attempted sexual conduct with a minor following an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
Paul P. Schildhouse, 56, of Aurora, Illinois, is being held without bond in the Pickaway County Jail following his arrest about 3 p.m. Friday on the fourth-degree felony charge.
According to Chief Shawn Baer, Circleville Police Department, the investigation began in September and involved Schildhouse exchanging emails with undercover ICAC investigators that were sexual in nature.
He said Schildhouse believed he was exchanging emails with a single mother who had agreed to meet with him to have sexual conduct with the child. Instead, Schildhouse drove to Circleville from the Chicago suburb only to be met by investigators at a local motel.
Detective Phil Roar, Circleville Police Department, and Deputy Matt Parish, Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office, are members of the ICAC task force and were both actively involved in the investigation and arrest, Baer said.
The Pickaway County Prosecutor’s Office and members of Circleville Municipal Court Probation also assisted with the arrest, he said.
ICAC is a unit of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office made up of investigators from FCSO, as well as the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office, Circleville Police, Columbus Police, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies in central Ohio.
Baer said the investigation was still active Friday night, and more details will be released as they become available.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
