Cedar Rapids man faces additional sexual exploitation charge

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man, initially charged in a sex offender registry violation, has been charged with sex exploitation of a minor as part of a police sting last month targeting individuals who attempted to contact minors for sex.

Kenneth Merle Ruby, 43, was charged last week in Linn County District Court with sexual exploitation of a minor-cause to engage in act.

Ruby is accused of contacting a spoof profile where a Cedar Rapids police investigator was posing as a 15-year-old girl, and requesting that she send him naked photos of herself.

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Ruby was previously charged last month with a sex offender registry violation, an aggravated misdemeanor.

If convicted, Ruby faces up to 25 years for sex exploitation and two years for his sex offender registry violation.

Six others have been charged with enticing a minor under age 16 as part of the sting operation between June 11 and 18. Police investigators created several spoof accounts on dating apps and websites and pretended to be underage.

The six charged with enticement are accused of sending sexual messages and attempting to meet the underage individuals at various places, including Noelridge and Jones parks, according to search warrant affidavits.

Those charged with enticing a minor are Coady Wayne Tallman, 33, of Cedar Rapids; Adam Russel Darling, 42, of Cedar Rapids; Aaron Justice Dicken, 29, of West Branch; Seton Kelly Smith, 48, of Hampton; David William Wren Jr., 55, of Cedar Rapids; and Scott Phillip Greenman, 50, of Cedar Rapids.

Tallman also is charged with two counts of telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor and a sex offender registry violation. Dicken also is charged with a sex offender registry violation. Greenman also is charged with dissemination of obscene material to a minor and interference with official acts.

The enticement charge, a felony, carries a five-year sentence; telephone dissemination, an aggravated misdemeanor, carries a two-year sentence; and sex offender registry violations can be either be a five-year or two-year sentence.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com