GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Massachusetts man has admitted to flying to Grand Rapids earlier this year to have sex with two girls, whom he also wanted to fit with collars “as a signature of ownership,’’ federal court records show.
“I mean if I get my way, they’ll be my property,’’ Jonathan Ryan Ledoux wrote to an undercover agent posing as a single mother. “I love using collars as a signature of ownership.’’
Ledoux appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids on Thursday, Oct. 17, where he pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. In exchange for his plea, a second charge will be dismissed.
Ledoux faces a minimum of 10 years in prison – and up to life, when he returns to court for sentencing. The conviction also requires that he register as a sex offender. A sentencing date has not been set; he remains in federal custody.
The case has been delayed while Ledoux underwent a psychological exam to determine if he understood the charges against him and could assist in his own defense.
A U.S. magistrate judge last week ruled that Ledoux was competent. That set the stage for a plea agreement, which Ledoux signed on Monday, Oct. 14.
Ledoux has been locked up since his March arrest at Gerald R. Ford International Airport as part of a Homeland Security Investigations probe into child sexual exploitation.
HSI Special Agent Scott T. Bauer made online contact with Ledoux last November in an incest chatroom, court records show.
Bauer presented himself as a single mother of two girls, ages 14 and nine. He received a private message from a man who used the name DeviantNerd42.
That man was later identified as 30-year-old Jonathan Ledoux, who was living in Fall River, located south of Boston.
“I definitely would like to find a woman like you with some young girls to play with,’’ the man wrote, according to a criminal complaint filed earlier this year.
His comments became more disturbing in subsequent exchanges.
“I’d love to breed them if I could,’’ and “don’t you think it’d be fun having a roommate to . . . rape your little girls every day,’’ he wrote, followed by a winking emoticon.
In a March 18 exchange, Ledoux wrote: “If I’m going to jail for this then I might as well get it over with.’’
That happened four days later. Ledoux was arrested early the afternoon of March 22.
“Ledoux stated he intended to have sexual intercourse with both girls,’’ Bauer wrote in court records. “Ledoux stated he was more interested in the younger girl.’’
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.