Vacaville Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Michael Keith Rubino, 37, of Vacaville, pleaded guilty today to sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

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 resided with him for approximately six weeks in late 2024. After his victim was admitted to a local hospital, Rubino told law enforcement officers that he never engaged in sexual conduct with her despite knowing that he had done so while she was seventeen.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Vacaville Police Department, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Stefanki is prosecuting the case.

Rubino is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on Nov. 11, 2025. Rubino faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.