JERSEYVILLE – A Jerseyville man is the latest Riverbend resident to be charged with grooming, child solicitation, and more after authorities uncovered Grindr messages between himself and an adult posing as a 14-year-old child.
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Matthew H. Edens, 31, of Jerseyville, was charged on Nov. 24, 2025 with one count each of indecent solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a minor (both Class 3 felonies), solicitation to meet a child, and grooming (both Class 4 felonies).
From Nov. 21-22, 2025, Edens allegedly knowingly solicited an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old male child to perform a sex act, with the intent of committing aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He is additionally accused of attempting to seduce, solicit, lure or entice the supposed 14-year-old via an online service and arranging to meet with the minor at a Walgreens location in Alton, with the meeting knowingly arranged for an unlawful purpose.
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to deny pretrial release from custody for Edens. According to the petition, Alton Police officers responded to the Walgreens location on Nov. 22, 2025, in response to a report of an individual attempting to meet up with a 14-year-old child. Edens was taken into custody, and officers received consent to search his phone, revealing messages between Edens and another individual via the Grindr application.
The petition states that the individual Edens had been messaging was an adult posing as a 14-year-old male child, who made contact with law enforcement and provided them with the messages.
“In the messages, the individual posing as a 14-year-old male child clearly stated that he was 14 years old and after that disclosure, the defendant responded that he wanted to engage in a sex act with the child,” the petition states. “Further, he arranged to meet the person whom he believed to be a child at Walgreens, then traveled to Walgreens where he called the individual to let them know he was there.”
The state’s petition was upheld, with a Detention Order filed in this case stating Edens “acknowledged communication with the boy.”
“The defendant’s conduct is secretive in nature and EM [electronic monitoring]/curfew would not prevent defendant from accessing similar apps and [making] contact with minors,” the Detention Order states.
The Alton Police Department presented the case against Edens, who currently remains in custody at the Madison County Jail.
This follows a separate but similar case in which an Alton man was also charged with grooming, indecent solicitation of a child, and more after officers discovered messages between him and an adult posing as a 14-year-old child via the Grindr application. More details are available in this related story on Riverbender.com.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
