A Nevada man admitted to a federal judge in Pittsburgh that he traveled to Western Pennsylvania in an attempt to have sex with a 15-year-old West Mifflin girl after stalking her online for more than a year, prosecutors said.
Renad Bautista, 31, of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said.
Bautista was arrested in December 2019, after an undercover officer posed as the girl he had been stalking online from the time she was 13 years old.
Police said Renad Bautista, 30, was “constantly contacting” the girl starting in August 2018 when she was 13, commenting about having sex with her and asking her to respond to nude photos he sent of himself with her own photos, a criminal complaint said.
Police said the girl’s parents asked Bautista to stop contacting her, but instead he told the girl he found her street address through social media and knew what her house looked like, adding that he wanted to drive to Pittsburgh to meet her. The girl’s father again reached out, informing Bautista of her age and telling him to stop communicating with her. Bautista then sent a letter and $5 bill to her home.
When the girl blocked his social media accounts, Bautista would open new ones to continue contacting her.
In August 2019, officers with the West Mifflin Police Department and FBI Pittsburgh Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force took over the girl’s social media account, posing as the 14-year-old. Police said Bautista continued contacting the account, believing it was the girl, saying that he knew her age and that he was going to come to Pittsburgh so they could be married and live together in an apartment.
When the agent controlling the account would not immediately respond, Bautista would say he was going to kill her.
Bautista faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
A federal judge scheduled his sentencing hearing for Sept. 21.
