BLOOMINGTON — A 64-year-old Bloomington man has been denied pretrial release after being charged with indecent solicitation of a minor.
Larry D. Hill appeared in court Friday while in custody of the McLean County Detention Facility for an initial hearing to determine his custody status.
A one-count bill of indictment was filed Tuesday charging Hill with indecent solicitation of a minor under the age of 13, a Class 1 felony.
Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Guido filed a motion to detain Hill on the grounds of alleged dangerousness.
In a probable cause statement, Guido said the Bloomington Police Department received a report March 10 for possible solicitation of a minor.
A mother said she went to a local grocery store with her child on March 9 and her child asked to go to the bathroom, Guido said. As the child exited the restroom, Hill reportedly asked the child to perform a sex act in exchange for $10, but the child proceeded to run past him to their mother.
People are also reading…
When the child was interviewed by police, they told officers that when they tried to get past Hill, he continued to shout and offer more money, Guido said.
Guido said store surveillance footage revealed Hill, in the same attire described by the child, loitering around the restroom area. Hill could be seen approaching the child as they exited the restroom, Guido said, adding that a brief interaction was seen before the child ran away.
When police interviewed Hill on March 23, he admitted to speaking to the child in the store March 9, but denied saying anything sexual, Guido reported in court.
Guido added that Hill has 14 prior felony offenses dating back to 1990, with his most recent case being a 2023 misdemeanor domestic battery for which he was out on bond.
Guido said that due to the randomness of this incident, and the court being unable to monitor Hill's activity in public, pretrial detention would be the only option.
Assistant Public Defender Vi-Vi Phan said the surveillance video does not have audio, and besides the child's statement, there is no hard evidence of what was said during the interaction. She added that Hill has no prior crimes involving sexual abuse or solicitation of minors, and suggested home confinement and geographic location monitoring rather than detention.
Judge Scott Kording granted the state's petition for pretrial detention, noting the randomness of the incident and the fact that Hill did not know the child. He said Hill could pose a threat to the community and to other children, as well as to this initial victim if they crossed paths again.Â
Hill will appear in court for an arraignment at 9 a.m. May 3.