Metro-east sex offender faces new solicitation charge

A Granite City area man who previously was convicted of a sex offense and failing to register as a sex offender has been arrested on new charges alleging he solicited a sexual act from a teenage girl via text and failed to register where he was living.

Matthew L. Dodd, 45, was charged with indecent solicitation of a child and two counts of unlawful failure to register as a sex offender, according to a news release Tuesday from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and court records. All of the charges are felonies.

During a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon, a judge ordered that Dodd be held in the Madison County Jail until his trial, according to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The Madison County Public Defender’s Office was assigned to represent Dodd. A representative from the office could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege Dodd sent a text message soliciting a sex act to the daughter of an acquaintance, according to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office petition asking that Dodd be detained.

Dodd was convicted of indecent solicitation of a child in 2021 and unlawful failure to register as a sex offender in 2022, according to the petition. He successfully completed his probation sentence on these charges.

The latest investigation started on Aug. 1 when deputies were called to a home in unincorporated Granite City regarding a dispute between two men. One of the men alleged the other had solicited a minor, according to the sheriff’s office news release.

No charges were filed immediately but “deputies seized numerous items of evidence and ensured a safety plan for the minor,” the release stated.

The sheriff’s office said its Digital Forensics Division found evidence that supported the allegation and the case was brought to the state’s attorney’s office, which then filed the charges.

Also during the investigation, deputies determined Dodd “was providing false information about his whereabouts, registering as homeless when he was residing” in a home, the petition alleges.