GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Hudsonville man apologized to his family before his sentencing Monday afternoon in a sex trafficking case.
Jonathan Didyk, 46, will serve at least two years in prison for selling his girlfriend, who’s also the mother of his children, for sex.
Target 8 broke the story of Didyk’s sex-trafficking-related arrest outside a Grandville hotel that happened in November 2023.
“I want to apologize deeply for everything involved with this,” Didyk told Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Quist in a downtown Grand Rapids courtroom. “It’s affected so many people, and most drastically, (my) family, my children … It’s uprooted their world. I regret ever having any involvement in anything. Just, it’s been hard on everyone, and I apologize for everything.”
Hudsonville man pleads guilty to prostituting his girlfriend
Didyk did not direct any specific comments to his former longtime girlfriend, who also spoke at sentencing.
“I’m scared to go outside in public,” she said quietly, standing behind the podium. “I’m scared to even go to work. I work third shift at my job right now because I’m scared people are going to see the pictures he put out there (of) me.”
Grandville Police said Didyk posted photos of his girlfriend to an online escort site, then pretended to be her while talking to potential customers and setting up dates at hotels around metro Grand Rapids.
His girlfriend said she was frightened by the aggression Didyk displayed around her and the couple’s two children. She told police he also threatened that they would not make rent or afford clothes for the children unless she sold her body for sex.
The prostitution occurred over a ninth-month period.
But on Nov. 10, 2023, Grandville Police arrested Didyk outside the Rodeway Inn off Chicago Drive near I-196.
Man accused of forcing girlfriend into prostitution
“I guess I just feel he deserves the strictest punishment just so he can’t get out and do this to anyone else,” Didyk’s ex-girlfriend told the judge Monday afternoon.
Before announcing Didyk’s sentence, Judge George Quist noted that Didyk did well on bond and does not have much a criminal record.
“On the other hand, these are very serious allegations,” said Quist from the bench. “Two convictions, one for prostitution/pandering and the other for accepting the earnings of a prostitute. (The victim), who was the mother of his two children, was put in a very difficult position by Mr. Didyk, prostituting her out even though this is her alleged boyfriend, and I know she’s very scared of him as well. Fortunately for Mr. Didyk, his attorney negotiated a favorable deal from the prosecuting attorney.”
Quist said while sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of thirty to fifty months, Kent County’s prosecutor agreed to guidelines of twelve to 24 months.
“The court will follow that recommendation, but the court will go to the top of the guidelines that were recommended,” Quist said.
He sentenced Didyk to two years minimum up to twenty years max on each count, to run concurrently.
Deputies removed Didyk from the courtroom to begin his incarceration.
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