A 37-year-old Vacaville man pleaded guilty Thursday in a Sacramento federal courtroom to sexual exploitation of a minor, a U.S. Attorney said.

Michael Keith Rubino will face sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on Nov. 11, Eric Grant, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, said in a press statement.

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According to court documents, Rubino used his iPhone to record a video of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a 17-year-old girl who lived with him for approximately six weeks in late 2024.

After his victim was admitted to a local hospital, he told law enforcement officers that he never had sex with her, despite knowing that he had done so while she was 17, Grant said.

At sentencing, Rubino, who is not in custody in Sacramento County Jail, faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years and a maximum term of 30 years, as well as a $250,000 fine. He also likely will have to register as a sexual offender. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court and the federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The case, brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, stems from an investigation by the Vacaville Police Department, with help from the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Stefanki leads the prosecution.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, it brings together federal, state, and local resources to find, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children — and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about PSC, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.