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Realtor Used Code Words to Plan Sex With Girl, 13

The suspect paid for the illicit meetings, his plea agreement says

 A San Diego realtor admitted to paying for sex with a 13-year-old girl, using “bookstore” and “library” as code words to arrange meet-ups, according to his plea agreement released Thursday.

Michael Lustig, 70, pleaded guilty to three counts of interstate travel aid of racketeering enterprises, which are prostitution-related charges.

According to U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy, interviews with two minors revealed Lustig had hired an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl separately for commercial sex.

Surveillance video from an El Cajon motel caught Lustig entering a room with one of the girls and emerging about 43 minutes later, court documents show.

The girls told officials they knew the suspect as “George” and had been paid by him for sexual activity, even after at least one of the girls told him she was a minor.

San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies first contacted Lustig in June 2012 as they were targeting prostitution customers in the Encinitas area.

When he was arrested, deputies seized two cell phones from him, which confirmed he had been in contact with the two minors, Duffy says.

However, Lustig’s plea agreement just details his interactions with the 13-year-old girl between Oct. 2011 and June 2012.

For example, on Oct. 15, 2011, he texted the girl, “Hey, is the bookstore open? I’m in desperate need of books rite now,” according to his plea. Lustig admitted the words like “bookstore” and “library” were codes for commercial sex.

A federal grand jury initially charged Lustig with two counts of sex trafficking of a minor and criminal forfeiture in Oct. 2013, but the charges were revised in his plea agreement.

Lustig now faces a total of 15 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release at his sentencing, set for Nov. 3, 2014.

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