In a statement issued just after midnight Friday, Urbana police Chief Larry D. Boone said: “While we are an organization comprised of humans who make mistakes, we cannot and should not make mistakes when it comes to the handling of incidents involving the most vulnerable members of our society. We apologize to the victim, their family and the public generally.”
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URBANA — Police Chief Larry D. Boone has publicly apologized for a member of the department’s “inaccurate, unprofessional and inappropriate” response to a social-media post criticizing the handling of a case that ended with an arrest late Friday night.
In a lengthy release issued just after midnight Friday, police both announced the arrest of a Seymour man in connection with the solicitation of a minor and apologized to “the victim, their family and the public generally.”
The case involved a female Urbana Middle School student who, while walking home from school around 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 6, reported a White male in a white pickup truck stopping his vehicle and asking the girl if she needed a ride.
When the girl rejected the offer, her mother told authorities, the “driver asked the student if they wanted to make some money. The student again said ‘no!’ and fled on foot to a safe location,” according to Urbana police.
In the days between the incident and Friday’s 10:07 p.m. arrest of 34-year-old Seymour man Hunter W. Simmons for one count of luring a minor and one count of indecent solicitation of a minor, the student’s mother was “provided with inaccurate guidance regarding how to proceed,” police said.
“Specifically, she was informed that no further action could be taken due to the minimal description of the suspect and vehicle provided, as well as the amount of time that had elapsed since the incident had taken place.
“However,” police said in Saturday’s statement, “an officer should have been dispatched to investigate the matter immediately following her report.”
Following the incident, a member of the public expressed frustration and anger on social media over how the situation was handled. Urbana police “responded to the post by providing some information about what had been learned thus far” but portions of the post — which has since been removed — were “inaccurate, unprofessional and inappropriate.”
Police said Boone has personally met with the family and the victim to “discuss the matter, and to address and apologize for the initial failure to respond and for the department’s social media post.”
Said Boone: “While we are an organization comprised of humans who make mistakes, we cannot and should not make mistakes when it comes to the handling of incidents involving the most vulnerable members of our society. We apologize to the victim, their family and the public generally.”
During an interview with detectives, the victim “provided information” that led them to focus on a potential suspect. Simmons was arrested Friday and transported to the Champaign County Satellite Jail.
“Despite this arrest,” police said, “patrol officers will provide extra patrol to the area of the Urbana Middle School campus moving forward.”
Anyone with additional information is urged to call Urbana police at 217-384-2320. Arrangements can be made for information to be shared privately.
Anyone wishing to remain anonymous my also submit tips to Crime Stopper by phone at 217-373-TIPS (217-373-8477); online at 373tips.com; or the “P3 Tips” mobile app.
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