Alhambra Man Charged With Grooming, Child Solicitation

ALHAMBRA – A resident of Alhambra faces felony charges for grooming and arranging to meet a 16-year-old child via Snapchat.

Clayton W. Moore, 44, of Alhambra, Ill., was charged on May 14, 2025 with grooming and solicitation to meet a child, both Class 4 felonies.

From April 12-15, 2025, Moore allegedly attempted to “seduce, solicit, lure or entice, a child” who was 16 years old via Snapchat. Moore is accused of using an electronic device to arrange a meeting with the child for the unlawful purpose of “an act of sexual conduct,” according to court documents.

A petition was filed to deny Moore’s pretrial release from custody. The petition states that on April 16, 2025, a mother submitted a report of Grooming and Solicitation to Meet a Child concerning Moore and her daughter to the Madison County Sheriff's Department.

The mother reported that her 16-year-old daughter told her after attending an After Prom party at Moore’s home, Moore had been “sending her inappropriate messages via Snapchat” for four days and “was traveling to meet her at her place of employment.” The mother and her husband later reported seeing Moore in the parking lot of their daughter’s place of employment while their daughter was working.

The victim was interviewed and disclosed that “they were drinking alcohol with” Moore at the party, and sent him messages and photos via Snapchat the night of said party. Moore then began messaging her the next day about “coming to pick her up, wanting to meet up, calling her ‘sexy’ and ‘beautiful.’”

“He also sends [the victim] a photo of himself shirtless and asks her for ‘sexy’ photos from her,” the petition states. “Detectives discover that over the course of four days, they exchanged over 1,000 messages.

“[The victim’s] friend, who also attended the party, was interviewed and said that the messages made [the victim] uncomfortable. The defendant's wife was interviewed and stated that the defendant told her that he knew he shouldn't have been sending the messages to [the victim].”

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office presented the case against Moore, who was remanded to jail for his initial appearance in court.

All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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