Kenji L. Haley, 31, had been at large since 2007, when he was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child under 10 years old in Urbana. The charge stems from 10 acts of molestation against one victim, while another investigation is underway into a case involving a second possible victim from Urbana, the sheriff's department said.
Investigators believe Haley has been molesting children for years, targeting single mothers who have young children.
The sheriff's department said he would stay with the women long enough to earn their trust and eventually be left alone with the children, even staying overnight in the same house with them.
After molesting them, he would threaten them and say their mother would never believe them or that she would think the child was simply trying to break the couple up. Haley would also present gifts to those children as a way to earn their silence.
The sheriff's department said they recently learned that Haley was living in Cook County and seeing as many as 10 women with young children. The sheriff department's fugitive warrants division, in conjunction with the U.S. Marshal's fugitive task force, began searching for Haley at known addresses where he was staying.
On Thursday, a single mother in Hazel Crest told them he had just left her home. He was found later the same day at a house in the 8700 block of South Kingston Avenue in Chicago, where he was staying with another single mother.
He was arrested without incident, the sheriff's department said.
They said they have now opened an investigation into Haley regarding possible victims in Cook County, while he has been taken into custody by Champaign County authorities.
Haley also has had warrants issued for his arrest in cases unrelated to the molestation charge. He is wanted in Vermillion County for unlawful use of a credit card and in Champaign County for failure to pay more than $25,000 in child support.
"Anyone who knows him can feel safe knowing he is custody," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said in a statement. "We hope there are no other victims, but if there are, we certainly hope they feel strong enough to come forward to someone they trust and tell what happened."
