An Antioch man, who is a former U.S. Navy sailor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for enticing underage girls to have sex with him on different occasions, prosecutors said.
Casey Ireland, 36, of Antioch, pleaded guilty earlier this year to enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Ireland drove in May and June 2017 to Wisconsin to pick up the first victim at her high school, and then drove her back to his home in Antioch to engage in sex acts, prosecutors said.
Ireland arranged to pick up a second victim in May 2017 at a park near her home in Wisconsin, and then drove her to his home to engage in sex acts, prosecutors said.
Ireland, who is the father of a young girl himself, admitted in a plea agreement that he had sex with two 15-year-old girls from Wisconsin. He began communicating with the girls through online messaging applications, prosecutors said.
The 15-year sentence was handed down Thursday by U.S. District Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in federal court in Chicago.
Police took control of the second victim’s messaging account after she notified authorities. Law enforcement, posing as the victim, arranged for Ireland to pickup the victim at the same park near her home to engage in another sexual encounter.
Ireland was arrested in June 2017 when he drove there and instead was met by police. The man is a former U.S. Navy sailor, who had previously been acquitted on military charges accusing him of raping a 16-year-old girl, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“Casey Ireland is a rapist,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dixon told Judge Pallmeyer on Thursday. “He robbed these girls of their innocence.”