No prison for man involved in luring of teen off Minneapolis street to rape her

A judge has spared prison time for a man involved in the luring of a 14-year-old girl off a Minneapolis street who was then raped by him and an accomplice in a Mahtomedi apartment.

Michael Lewis, 69, was sentenced on Jan. 7 in Washington County District Court after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the girl’s abduction and assault late last month.

Judge Juanita Freeman set aside a three-year prison term and ordered Lewis to serve six months in jail. Freeman also directed him to complete sex offender treatment.

In November, jurors convicted co-defendant Billy Ray Wiley, 52, of Stillwater, on two counts of sex trafficking, and one each of first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with scouting for women and girls in the metro area and coercing them with money or drugs to come to a Mahtomedi apartment, where they were assaulted. Wiley’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 26.

Following Wiley’s conviction, County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a statement, “This case is a horrifying example of a predator preying on the most vulnerable members of our community.”

According to the criminal complaints and trial testimony:

On June 30, a 14-year-old girl was seen by witnesses outside the Piccadilly Square Apartments complex. She appeared to be heavily under the influence of drugs and emotionally distressed and was screaming “no, no, no.”

The girl was brought to St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, where she told task force members that Wiley had given her crack cocaine and brought her to Lewis’ apartment, where she was sexually and physically assaulted by Wiley and Lewis.

The girl added that Wiley was a “friend” who often drove around her Minneapolis neighborhood and would typically pick her up near a grocery store close to her home.

In a follow-up interview, the girl said she knew she was expected “to engage in sex acts in exchange for money and drugs,” the charges read.

A 20-year-old woman told authorities that Wiley picked her up in Minneapolis on June 28 and brought her to the apartment, where he physically and sexually assaulted her. Wiley recorded the assault on his phone. Investigators recovered the video, which led them to Lewis’ apartment.

On July 8, officers stopped Wiley’s car near the apartment complex. With him was a 17-year-old girl. In the car were 13 unopened condoms and a suspected illicit substance.