Chicago police officer admits to soliciting sex from 14-year-old, 3 other girls

CHICAGO, Illinois -- A Chicago police officer has pleaded guilty to soliciting sex with a 14-year-old girl and three other underage girls.

William Whitley, 61, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to a single count of sex trafficking of a minor. Whitley admitted to paying the 14-year-old girl about $60 to $150 for sex acts with her between June and September 2015.

The 27-year police veteran faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison when sentenced in September.

Whitley was stripped of his police powers after the federal investigation came to light.

The feds say a 2015 FBI investigation into the sex trafficking of a teenage girl led them to Whitley. After she was arrested in a September 2015 sting, the girl told authorities about her "johns," including Whitley. She said she was introduced to Whitley in June 2015 and had sex with him about five times, collecting between $60 and $150 from him each time.

At the time, the girl was 14, but she told Whitley she was 23. According to a criminal complaint, the girl said Whitley kept his CPD uniform hanging on his bedroom door, kept a gun under the pillow even while they were having sex, and wore a gold chain with the CPD logo on it. At times, Whitley even bragged about being a police officer, she said.

The feds say Whitley was in touch with the girl by phone "hundreds of times" between July 24, 2015 and Sept. 17, 2015. On Sept. 17, 2015, Whitley began texting the girl. When she replied, "Awww ok wassup then," he replied, "You already know" and added, "B4 I gotta work."

The girl also said Whitley took naked photographs of her inside his apartment.

The 14-year-old girl led authorities to a 16-year-old girl who also said she had sex with Whitley for money. She said Whitley pulled up next to her and a friend once in Englewood and asked if they wanted to take a ride with him and "his partner." They agreed, though the girl said she suspected Whitley might be a cop based on the way he spoke.

The 16-year-old girl said Whitley was in the driver's seat, and the partner was in the passenger seat. That's when she said Whitley gave the girl $65 "in exchange for giving him oral sex." She said she had oral sex with Whitley five times, each time collecting $60 to $65 from him.

Whitley's "partner" was not named in the criminal complaint.

The feds say Whitley acknowledged having sex for money once with the 14-year-old girl. He said he didn't know her age, but he recalled seeing braces on her teeth. He also said he took photographs of her in her underwear. But they said he denied knowing the 16-year-old girl. Authorities say they searched Whitley's Samsung Galaxy tablet and found the 14-year- old girl's nickname with the letters "Fre" before it.

Several other numbers were marked the same way, and text messages with those contacts appeared to be "consistent with prostitution."

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.