A Creve Coeur man will serve 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to luring young girls into sexual acts.
Federal prosecutors said Charles Hewitt, 48, was already a convicted sex offender when he created a fake online profile in 2017 to encourage underage girls to send him nude photos and meet with him.
Prosecutors said he posed as a 15-year-old boy named "John" to get two girls to meet with him before sexually assaulting them. He also allegedly threatened to kill the horses of a third minor victim if she didn't send him more nude photos or have sex with him.
Hewitt was registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to an aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Woodford County in 2014.
Hewitt was arrested by U.S. Marshals in 2018. The Peoria County Sheriff's Office helped in the investigation.
