SAN DIEGO—San Diego realtor Michael E. Lustig plead guilty Thursday in federal court to prostitution-related crimes, admitting that he paid for sex with a 13-year-old girl on several occasions, according to the FBI.
Lustig, 70, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October of 2013. Sentencing is scheduled for November in U.S. District Court.
“The United States will vigorously pursue any adult preying on children for sexual activity,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “Defendants like Michael Lustig victimize the most vulnerable population in our community—children—and these predators will be brought to justice.”
According to court records, here are the facts:
- Lustig was first contacted in June of 2012 by San Diego Sheriff’s deputies during an operation targeting customers of prostitution in the Encinitas area.
- Lustig was arrested and deputies seized two cellular telephones which led to information that he had been in contact with two minor females.
- Interviews with the minors revealed that Lustig had contacted them separately for sex.
- One of the girls was 11 years old at the time she began having sex with Lustig, and the other was 13 years of age.
- Surveillance video from a motel in El Cajon, California showed Lustig entering a motel room with one of the girls and emerging 43 minutes later.
Also Lustig contacted the minors multiple times over a span of multiple months. Interviews with the minors confirmed that Lustig, known to them as “George,” had paid them for sex and that at least one of the minors had identified herself as a minor.
In the plea agreement, Lustig admitted that he used a cellular telephone to contact the 13-year-old minor on multiple occasions between at least October 2011 and June 2012, to have sex.
Lustig admitted that he thereafter engaged in sex with the girl and paid her for it.
For example, according to the plea agreement, Lustig admitted that on October 15, 2011, he wrote the minor, asking, the following:
“Hey, is the bookstore open? I’m in desperate need of books rite now.” Lustig admitted in court that he was using code for commercial sex activity. On November 11, 2011, Lustig wrote the same minor, “U free sometime in the next 2 hours?” and “Any chance for library in 35 min, @ 7:15?”
Lustig again admitted that he used code to recruit the minor for sex. On June 8, 2012, Lustig wrote the minor simply “Bookstore?” meaning that he wanted to establish a date for sex.
“A predator is off our streets today and can’t victimize the innocents,” said Sheriff Bill Gore. “This investigation showcases the success of collaborative federal and local investigations working toward the common good.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge, Daphne Hearn, commented, “The average age of a child targeted for prostitution is between the ages of 12 to 14 for girls and 11 to 13 for boys.”