Charles City man pleads guilty to enticing minor

OSAGE — A Charles City man charged with enticing a Mitchell County minor has pleaded guilty.

23-year-old John Onken was arrested in November after an investigation into conversations he was allegedly having with an 11-year-old through Facebook Messenger. A criminal complaint says the conversations were sexual in nature and discussion was had about meeting for a sexual encounter. The 11-year-old’s stepfather intervened and informed Onken to stop, and if he did not, the conversations would be turned over to law enforcement.

After that conversation stopped, the victim changed her screen name and started a conversation with the defendant on Snapchat, with conversations continuing to be sexual in nature. Onken later admitted he spoke with the stepfather and was told how old she was.

Onken on Tuesday pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a minor under the age of 13 for sexual abuse or exploitation, a Class C felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. Onken is scheduled to be sentenced on August 9th.