33 months prison in Aurora child sex sting
A North Aurora man was sentenced to 33 months in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to traveling to meet minors for sex after being busted in an Aurora police sting in 2014.
Ruryk Michel, 40, of the 500 block of Hidden Creek Lane, was arrested Dec. 23, 2014, after answering an online sex advertisement and driving to an Aurora hotel thinking he was going to have sex with two girls age 14 and 15, police said.
Prosecutors said that when Michel arrived at the hotel, he met a person who he thought was the girls' mother and confirmed he wanted to pay for sex with the girls. Michel was then arrested by Aurora police and federal agents.
Michel pleaded guilty to traveling to meet a minor, a felony, in exchange for other charges being dismissed, including the most severe of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor. That offense carried a six- to 30-year prison term with no chance for probation.
Michel was one of eight people arrested in the sting by Aurora police and the Department of Homeland Security targeting sex trafficking and sexual deviants who sought to have sex with minor females.
Four people, including Michel, have pleaded guilty and gone to prison.
Two are due in court this week; one has a bench trial scheduled June 21 and another is due in court June 16.
Michel also must register as a sex offender for 10 years after his release from prison. He can have his sentence reduced by half for good behavior behind bars.
Judge James Hallock accepted the plea, which also requires Michel to pay $1,070 in court fines and costs.