MANKATO — Two men from Minnesota and one from Wisconsin face solicitation charges in relation to an underage sex sting in Blue Earth County.
Steven Charles Houdek, 54, of Onalaska, Wisconsin, John Robert Schrock, 23, of Jordan, and Jeffrey Joseph Gorak, 48, of Wabasha, were each charged with two felonies last week in Blue Earth County District Court. The felonies are for describing sexual conduct with a child or someone they believed to be a child using electronic communication and soliciting a child or someone they believed to be a child to engage in sexual conduct, according to criminal complaints.
All three men are accused of showing up to a residence in Blue Earth County, or being seen near the residence, of a person they believed to be a minor on Dec. 20 after previously discussing sex on the phone or online.
The complaint against Houdek alleges he texted with someone who had told him he was 15 years old on Dec. 19. Houdek reportedly inquired about sex and offered to teach the person various sexual acts before showing up to the residence the next day.
Schrock, a complaint states, started messaging someone who told him she was 14 on a social media site on Dec. 19 followed by the two exchanging text messages. He allegedly asked her if she wanted to have sex and then went to where he thought she was located on Dec. 20.
Gorak’s communications reportedly started on Dec. 9, according to a complaint, when he sent a message on social media to someone who told him she was in high school. At one point the person reportedly told him she was 13 years old, to which he responded “you mean 16 right?” followed by a wink emoji.
The complaint states he then encouraged her to tell him that she mistyped her age because it was the only way he could come over. After she told him she was in Mankato, he reportedly arrived in the area Dec. 20 and discussed meeting up with her, sent her a picture of where he was, and was seen nearby her residence.
Gorak’s initial appearance in court is set for Jan 4, while Houdek’s and Schrock’s are on Jan. 11.