WESTLAND, Mich. – A previously convicted sex offender who targeted a young girl online and tried to convince her to have sex with him while he was living in a tent in a Westland backyard is set to be sentenced Tuesday.
Ronald Neil Check, 47, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4, 2025.
He tried to convince an 8-year-old girl to send him child sexually abusive photos, and possessed “numerous” photos and videos of child pornography, officials said.
On Aug. 27, 2024, Check was charged on a four-count indictment that included the following:
- Count 1: Coercion and enticement of a minor
- Count 2: Penalties for registered sex offenders
- Count 3: Receipt of child pornography
- Count 4: Possession of child pornography
On July 8, 2025, Check pleaded guilty on Counts 1 and 2 as part of a plea agreement.
In a sentencing memorandum, the government recommended that Check be sentenced to 360 months in prison.
“Balancing his past with his offense conduct, and considering all the other purposes of sentencing, the government recommends that the Court sentence Check within his guideline range to 360 months imprisonment, as such a sentence would be “sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes of sentencing set forth in18 U.S.C. 3553(a),” according to the sentencing memorandum.
Case Background
WARNING: Some of the details in this story are disturbing.
Check is listed on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry due to a 2005 conviction for first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 years old.
He was named in a criminal complaint that was unsealed May 16, 2024.
Disturbing messages with young girl
Michigan State Police officials said they received a screen name from the Tampa Police Department in Florida on Oct. 24, 2023. The person using that screen name sent 11 nude pictures of himself to a child, police said.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force traced the pictures back to Check and found a series of messages that had been exchanged on May 27, 2023.
- Child: “How old are u”
- Check: “14. You”
- Child: “10″
- Check: “I’m only 13 really. I think you’re so hot.”
Check went on to ask the girl for sex. Later in the conversation, a video chat took place and the child responded, “Put that away.”
Check continued to make advances toward the girl in the chat, even though she twice told him, “Stop.”
At one point, Check offered the girl money for sex, according to the criminal complaint.
Toward the end of the chat, the girl’s mother sent messages to Check through her daughter’s account.
“(My daughter) is 8 I will f------ kill you,” the mother said. “Nasty b----.”
Check responded with seven more messages and 14 attempted video calls. He continued his advances and told the mother that he would “probably stop calling” if the girl sent him “visuals.”
Child pornography found on cellphones
State police tracked the IP address used by Check to a home in Westland. The woman living at the home told police that in May 2023, Check had been living in a tent in her backyard.
She said she had given Check the password to her internet.
While they were checking his records, police learned that Check was being held at the Wayne County Jail on breaking and entering charges. Eight cellphones had been confiscated during his arrest.
While searching those cellphones, state troopers said they found 26 pictures and 75 videos that meet the federal definition of child pornography.
Check had also tried to make a new username and re-contact the girl in Tampa on one of the phones, the criminal complaint says.
Police said they also found the nude pictures of Check that had been sent to the girl.
A video of a naked girl between 7 and 10 years old was found on the same phone, officials said. The girl appeared to be on a video chat with Check. It took place on Jan. 14, 2023, and lasted 5 minutes and 33 seconds.
The criminal complaint said that Check is subject to enhanced penalties because of his previous conviction for criminal sexual conduct.
It concluded that there was probable cause that Check sent obscene material to a minor, sexually exploited a minor, coerced and enticed a minor, received child pornography, and possessed child pornography.