BISMARCK – One of the 17 men arrested here in a recent prostitution sting was out on bond for allegedly seeking to buy sex with minors in a similar sting last fall.
Steven Cory Unger, 26, is charged in Montana’s Dawson County with felony sexual abuse of children. He is accused of negotiating with undercover officers to pay for sex with two girls, ages 13 and 15, last October in Glendive, Mont.
Unger, set to go to trial on that charge in May, is out on $75,000 bail, court records show.
Unger is one of the men identified by Bismarck police who were arrested in a prostitution sting Feb. 4-5.
Police arrested Unger and the other men on suspicion of Class B misdemeanor prostitution for responding to online ads posted by law enforcement, said Sgt. Mark Buschena. Charges have not been filed against Unger or the others in the Bismarck sting.
ADVERTISEMENT
Assistant Bismarck City Attorney Jason Hammes said Friday morning that he had not yet received the reports from Bismarck police.
In the Montana case, Unger is accused in court documents of responding to online ads placed by law enforcement on Backpage.com for the cities of Bismarck and Billings, Mont.
Court records say Unger replied to the ad by asking what the girls look like and offered to pay $450 for sex with the 13- and 15-year-old girls.
Unger allegedly offered to pay extra money for a sexual act without a condom and said he wanted to take photos and videos of the girls, court records say.
When Unger arrived at the hotel room expecting to meet the girls, he was instead greeted by agents from the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security and other departments involved with the sting.
Under conditions of his release, Unger is required to remain law-abiding. He was not supposed to leave Montana without written permission except for work, court records show.
Unger’s attorney and the Dawson County prosecutor handling the case were both out of the office Friday and unavailable for comment.
In the Montana case, Unger’s residence is listed as Glasgow, Mont. Bismarck police listed his residence as Bismarck.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the Bismarck sting, the men who responded to the ads thought they were purchasing sex with women, not minors.
Police are conducting such stings in an effort to address the demand for commercial sex, Buschena said. In addition to the Bismarck sting, Minot police arrested 13 in a recent operation and Grand Forks police arrested eight.
“We want to give you the impression that anytime you answer one of these ads and you go to a hotel room, there may be three police officers waiting to take you down,” Buschena said.