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Charles City man pleads guilty to enticing Mitchell County girl

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City man has pleaded guilty to a charge of enticing an 11-year-old Mitchell County resident, after concerns were reported to law enforcement late last year by Osage school officials.

Charles City man pleads guilty to enticing Mitchell County girl
John Edward Onken

John Edward Onken, who turns age 24 this month, had been charged with enticing a minor under the age of 13 with the intent to commit sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, a Class C felony.

According to documents filed in Mitchell County District Court, the Osage High School principal had notified the Osage Police Department that he had concerns about inappropriate materials and conversations on a cellphone belonging to an 11-year-old.

A family member provided law enforcement with copies of Facebook Messenger conversations between the victim and Onken which were sexual in nature and discussed meeting to have sex, the criminal complaint says. The family member had contacted Onken over Facebook Messenger and told him to stop contacting the girl or the conversations would be turned over to law enforcement.

After that, the victim changed her screen name and started having conversations with Onken on SnapChat, the court document states. A search of the SnapChat conversations showed a conversation that was sexual in nature.

“During the course of an interview, the defendant said that he thought he was talking to the same person on Facebook Messenger and Snapchat. He also admitted that he spoke with her step-dad and was told how old she was,” the complaint states.

Onken was arrested and charged in November last year, and initially pleaded not guilty.

A trial had been set to begin on Wednesday, June 15, in Mitchell County, but late last month Onken filed a written plea of guilty to the charge.

As part of that plea agreement, the Mitchell County Attorney’s Office agreed to support the sentencing recommendation of the pre-sentencing investigation by the Second Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

Sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 9 in Mitchell County District Court.

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