A 60-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to more than 93 years to life in prison for molesting two girls and attempting to molest another one in a sting operation in a Huntington Beach hotel.
Jason V. Esparza would get women to babysit children as young as 4 so he could have access to them to molest them, police said in testimony at his preliminary hearing.
Huntington Beach police received a tip about him in September 2022 and began an eight-month investigation in which an agent posed as a woman babysitting a 4-year-old girl, according to prosecutors.
Esparza told the undercover agent of his wish to molest the girl, prosecutors said.
Esparza was sentenced to 93 years and eight months to life in prison. He has credit for 1,270 days behind bars, nearly 3 1/2 years, and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Esparza was convicted Nov. 12 of five counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years old or younger, three counts of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, two counts of attempted forcible lewd act on a child younger than 14, and three counts of attempted oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years old or younger, all felonies.
Esparza was convicted of attacking one victim in Sept. 20, 2006 and another one in September 2016. The sting operation with Huntington Beach police was conducted in April 2023.