A 22-year-old man was arrested in St. Paul on June 16 after investigators say he arranged to pay a 16-year-old for sex during an undercover operation. Court filings identify the suspect as Sage Mupope Mushegeto and state he was taken into custody during a juvenile-demand suppression sting in the city. Authorities have filed a felony charge alleging he hired or agreed to hire a 16- to 17-year-old for prostitution.
How police say the sting unfolded
According to a criminal complaint and reporting by Limitless Media News, undercover investigators posted a decoy online advertisement and began exchanging text messages with the suspect. The complaint says Mushegeto negotiated the price down to $140 and objected to using a condom. When the decoy texted, "ok I'm 16," he allegedly replied, "Great. I need the location."
Investigators report that he arrived at a predetermined meeting spot around 2:30 p.m., where officers took him into custody. A search turned up a cellphone, perfume and a bottle of personal lubricant, according to the complaint. All of it, authorities say, was part of a juvenile-demand suppression operation aimed at people seeking sex with minors.
Charges and possible penalties
Under Minnesota law, procuring sex from someone who is 16 or 17 is a felony that can carry up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, as outlined in Minnesota Statute 609.324. The statute treats hiring or agreeing to hire a 16- to 17-year-old for sexual activity more severely than comparable offenses involving adults.
As with any criminal case, a complaint contains only allegations, and Mushegeto is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
Context: a tactic seen across the metro
Juvenile-demand suppression stings, in which officers pose online as minors to catch people seeking commercial sex, have been used around the Twin Cities in recent months. Washington County documented a January operation that led to six arrests after undercover agents posed as a 16-year-old. Local reporting in April described multiple arrests from a Rochester sting, highlighting that this is a tactic used elsewhere in Minnesota as well.
Authorities say minors involved in commercial sex are treated as victims and that these operations are designed to suppress demand and protect youth.
The complaint in this case also states that investigators confirmed the suspect's identity by sending a text code to the number they had been messaging and then seeing that same code appear on the phone seized at the time of arrest. According to the filing, a post-Miranda interview followed in which he admitted responding to the advertisement and agreeing to buy sex.
The charging papers were filed in Ramsey County District Court. Initial reporting on the case is available from Limitless Media News. The allegations will now move through the court process.
