A St. Clair County native was charged Thursday following an online underage sex predator sting conducted Wednesday night in Waterloo.

This is the second such arrest in Waterloo initiated by the Facebook page Online Predator Intervention in less than two months, with both incidents taking place outside of Moto Mart, 409 State Route 3.

Nickolas L. Thompson, 32, of Olympia, Wash., formerly of O’Fallon, was charged in Monroe County Circuit Court for traveling to meet a minor, indecent solicitation (aggravated criminal sexual abuse), soliciting to meet a child, and grooming. The first two charges are Class 3 felonies, with the other two being Class 4 felonies.

Court information alleges Thompson “knowingly discussed, by means of the Internet,” a sex act “with a child or one the defendant believes to be a child.”

Per a video shared Wednesday via Online Predator Intervention on Facebook, Thompson was arrested by Waterloo police after he pulled into the Moto Mart parking lot in a pickup truck and had a brief conversation with a man recording the video.

Per the full video posted to YouTube on Thursday, Online Predator Intervention alleges Thompson thought he was hooking up with a 13-year-old girl through the meetme app.

A pre-trial detention hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday at the Monroe County Courthouse on the matter.

Online Predator Intervention is a private, civilian group which seemingly acts separately from official law enforcement departments, contacting local authorities once an in-person meeting with a suspected sexual predator has been arranged. 

A similar incident took place in late October at Moto Mart in Waterloo, resulting in the arrest of former Waterloo resident Andrew Wagner.