Charges: Girl, 14, picked up off street, brought to Twin Cities home, drugged and raped by 2 men

A 14-year-old girl was brought to an apartment in Mahtomedi, where she was drugged and raped by two men who often had girls off the street at the residence, according to charges filed Thursday.

Michael Lewis, 69, of Mahtomedi, was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, and Billy Ray Wiley, 52, of Minneapolis, was charged with sex trafficking and first-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the girl’s abduction and assault late last month.

Lewis and Wiley remained jailed Friday, Lewis on $400,000 bail and Wiley on $750,000 bail. Both are due in Washington County District Court on July 31. Messages were left with their respective attorneys seeking a response to the allegations.

County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a statement, “It’s heartbreaking to know these men brought a 14-year-old girl into our community and sexually assaulted her. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and her family.”

According to the charges against both men:

On June 30, sheriff’s deputies were called to an apartment complex in Mahtomedi on a report of a girl in distress. The arrived and saw a 14-year-old girl who could not control her movements and screaming “no, no, no” while clearly under the influence of drugs.

Inside the girl’s purse was a glass pipe and a powdery white substance. Ambulance personnel searched her purse and found unopened condoms and drug paraphernalia.

Investigators with the East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force were called to assist with the case and determined that the girl was picked up in Minneapolis by Wiley and brought to the apartment, where she was given drugs and raped by Lewis and Wiley.

The girl told task force investigators said Wiley was a “friend” who often drove around her neighborhood and would typically pick her up near an Aldi’s grocery store near her home.

She said that Wiley walked her into Lewis’ apartment on June 30 and Wiley gave her crack cocaine. She said she was raped in the residence.

In a follow-up interview, the girl told investigators that she knew that she was expected “to engage in sex acts in exchange for money and drugs,” the charges read.

Officers stopped Wiley’s car near the apartment complex on July 8. With him was a 17-year-old girl. In the car were 13 unopended condoms and a suspected illicit substance. Officers then arrested Lewis. A search of his apartment turned up drug paraphernalia.

The 17-year-old told officers that Wiley picked her up near Dale Street and University Avenue in St. Paul and “asked her what she needed,” the charges continued.

Officers pulled over Wiley with the girl at a gas station near the apartment complex. She said Wiley is known to pick up a lot of girls near Dale and University who are struggling with addiction.

Investigators watched surveillance video showing multiple times when Wiley brought females in various states of intoxication to Lewis’ apartment over previous weeks.