A 35-year-old Dana Point man was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Huntington Beach.
Bradley Thomas Williams pleaded guilty Dec. 18 to two counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14 and one count each of luring a child with the intent to commit a specified crime and meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct.
Three other men — two of whom are awaiting a preliminary hearing — were also charged with crimes involving the same victim. The defendants do not know each other, but all four met the 13-year-old victim online, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Christian Reid Palmer, 28, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty Dec. 18 to seven counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14 and single counts of luring a child with the intent to commit a sex offense and meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct. He was immediately sentenced to three years to prison.
Williams admitted that he met the teen online in June 2015 and within weeks arranged a meeting in which they engaged in sex acts, court records show.
Palmer admitted that he met the girl in December 2015, at first through video chats in which he directed the victim to touch herself and then in person when they had sex, according to court records.
Both men, who accepted plea deals from Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald, must both register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives, said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Duke.
Co-defendants Dwight Nicholas Castaldi, 43, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Sohrab Anaraki, 34, of Topanga, rejected similar plea deals from Fitzgerald, according to Duke, who argued for longer prison sentences for the defendants.
Castaldi and Anarak are awaiting a Jan. 29 preliminary hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster to determine whether there’s enough evidence to proceed to trial.
Anaraki, who allegedly arranged a meeting during which he assaulted the teen, faces 20 years in prison if convicted, Duke said. Anaraki is charged with one count each of luring a child with the intent to commit a sex crime and meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct, and six counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14, all felonies.
Castaldi, who did not meet the victim in person, faces 15 years in prison if found guilty, the prosecutor said.