Mesa sexual assault, sextortion case ends with prison time

Raymond Rukonwitz, 35, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman and sextorting her afterward.

During summer 2024, the Maricopa Community Colleges Police Department was investigating a threats case when the victim reported she had been sexually assaulted by Rukonwitz a couple of months earlier. They notified Mesa Police, who began investigating the sexual assault.

The victim told detectives she met Rukonwitz earlier that year at a college. When she left work one night in April, his car was parked next to hers near Dobson Road and Rio Salado Parkway. Rukonwitz told her to get in his car, and when she refused, he took her glasses and cell phone.

He then forced the victim into his car by threatening her, removed her clothes, and sexually assaulted her. Eventually, he let her leave, according to a release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

After the assault, Rukonwitz began texting messages threatening to physically harm the victim, burn her house down, burn her car, harm her family, and post a partially nude image of her if she did not have sex with him.

In August 2026, a jury convicted Rukonwitz of the following charges:

• One count of sexual assault, a class two domestic violence felony
• One count of attempted sexual assault, a class three felony
• Four counts of sexual extortion, a class three felony
• One count of harassment, a class one domestic violence misdemeanor

The judge sentenced Rukonwitz to 25 years in prison and lifetime probation for this case. The judge also revoked his probation and imposed a five-year prison term on a previous case, for which he had also served time. The two sentences will run consecutively for a total of 30 years in prison.

“It took tremendous courage for the woman to come forward in the face of threats so that this defendant could be held accountable and not harm anyone else,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “Thank you to Mesa Police and Maricopa Community Colleges Police for their collaboration in building a strong case, and to the prosecutors for ensuring this victim’s voice was heard and justice was served.”