Eden Prairie man charged with raping teen while out on bail on charges of soliciting minors for sex

An Eden Prairie man who was free on bail as he awaited trial on charges of soliciting minors for sex in Minnesota and Florida has been accused of raping a 15-year-old at his home after messaging the teenager on a social media app.

Michael Bruce Gillis, 34, was charged Thursday with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Hennepin County District Court. His criminal trial on felony charges of soliciting a child for sex and drug possession in Hennepin County from last year is set to begin on April 7.

Gillis also has a court date set for March 25 in Polk County, Fla., on several felony charges, including soliciting a minor for sex.

A warrant has been issued for Gillis arrest. He was not currently in custody. Messages left with Gillis' lawyer were not immediately returned.

According to court documents:

On March 2, Mounds View police were notified of a missing teenager. The boy’s aunt, who is his guardian, said he had left the house around 2:30 p.m. but hadn’t returned for several hours and was not answering his phone.

She opened his iPad and found that he had been on an app called Sniffies, which advertises itself as a site for sexual hookups. The aunt said her nephew had been messaging with a user who was later identified as Gillis. Gillis had sent nude photographs.

Several hours later, Eden Prairie police found the teenager walking near Gillis' home on the 8600 block of Endicott Trail.

Police reportedly looked through the chat history on the boy’s phone and found a conversation with Gillis in which he used an alias. According to police, the messages included Gillis saying he liked being dominated by younger men. The boy said he was still in high school, to which Gillis responded that was “hot” and ordered him an Uber.

In an interview, the teen said when he got to Gillis' house, he was acting “creepy” and eventually took him to his bedroom where they stripped and Gillis raped him. The boy said he waited for Gillis to fall asleep before he could flee the house.

He also told investigators that Gillis had asked him to help “cover up” a different sexual assault.

Gillis was charged with soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct through an undercover sting operation by Bloomington police last August. Authorities said Gillis communicated with an officer who he believed was a 15-year-old boy and then went to a location and bought a drink in Bloomington before being arrested.

Police found Gillis in possession of a bottle of lube and a small amount of fentanyl.

Gillis posted $65,000 bail and was released from custody.

Seven weeks later, he was arrested and charged with three felonies in Florida after an undercover sting operation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office initiated a conversation with him on Sniffies and Snapchat.

Gillis, who was traveling for work, was using another alias on the app and traveled to a neighborhood to meet with whom he believed was a 14-year-old boy before getting nervous and leaving.

Sheriff’s deputies stopped Gillis’ Uber and arrested him. He was released on bond to await trial in Florida and allowed to return to Minnesota for work.

Gillis was on electronic home monitoring at the time of the alleged assault at his home.