Two men arrested last summer during a Huron County human trafficking sting have been sentenced to prison for crimes arising from the sting.
On Monday, May 15, 46-year-old Daniel Horetski and 57-year-old Kevin Manor both received prison sentences on the charges of:
- Child Sexually Abusive Material, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison;
- Computers-Using to Commit a Crime, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; and,
- Children-Accosting for Immoral Purposes, a felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison.
Huron County Judge Gerald Prill sentenced Daniel Horetski on the most serious charge of Child Sexually Abusive Material to a minimum of 3 years and four months in prison to a maximum of 20 years. Kevin Manor received a similar sentence. In sentencing Manor, Judge Prill stated:
“We always dream that it’s not our community, it won’t happen here. It can’t happen here, it just happens in the city, it happens somewhere else and I’ll use the phrase, “hook up” with someone. And it appears innocent at first, where the individual poses doesn’t really say an age initially but then during the, I’ll call it the computer conversation, the phrase comes out, ‘I’m 15; no trouble though.’”
Judge Prill noted later during the sentencing that: “You can’t tolerate this behavior in this community.”
Horetski of Port Austin, and Manor of Sebewaing were arrested during a Human Trafficking Task Force sting initiated by the Huron County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Sanilac and Tuscola County Sheriff’s Offices, the Sanilac County Drug Task Force and the Bad Axe Police Department. Two Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team (GHOST) members of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office also provided assistance.
In both cases, on July 12, 2022, and in separate situations, the defendants were texting with who they believed to be a 15-year-old minor, trying to initiate having sex with that person. In actuality, they were texting with an undercover officer. When the defendants arrived at the location where they believed the minor was located, law enforcement officers arrested them. In addition to the officers’ observations, the surveillance video, and the defendants’ admissions, the text messages sent between the defendants and the undercover officer provided important evidence of their intent to have sex with a 15-year-old minor.
Based on all of the evidence provided by law enforcement, Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski charged both Horetski and Manor the next day with the same three felony offenses to which they ultimately pled no contest.
During the Horetski sentencing, Mr. Rutkowski noted that:
“If anybody that questions as to what happened in this case, we have the freedom of information statute in this state and they can freedom of information the report with these messages from the sheriff’s department if they want to see what transpired in this case.” Mr. Rutkowski continued stating: “When they searched the defendant’s phone, on the web browser, still in the search bar that said, ‘sex consent age in Michigan.’ . . . Defendant was looking that up during this circumstance.”
Prosecutor Rutkowski thanks Sheriff Hanson and the Huron County Sheriff’s Office for leading this operation as well as the Sanilac and Tuscola County Sheriff’s Offices, the Bad Axe Police Department, and the GHOST team members for their invaluable assistance in resolving this case.
