Florida man pleads guilty to sex crimes involving Huntington Beach girl he met on social media

A Florida man pleaded guilty Monday to sexual crimes against a Huntington Beach teenager he communicated with on social media and was sentenced to three years in state prison, court records show.

Dwight Castaldi, 43, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., pleaded guilty in Orange County Superior Court to two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under age 14. Additional charges were dropped, including two counts of lewd or lascivious acts and one count of luring a child with intent to commit a crime, court records show.

Detectives with the Huntington Beach Police Department began an investigation in September 2016 of four men, including Castaldi, on allegations of sexual misconduct with the 13-year-old girl. The men — who didn’t know one another — were charged in 2018 with felonies in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred in 2015 and 2016.

Authorities said Castaldi engaged in online sexual conduct with the girl in January 2016, court records show. He was arrested in Florida in March 2018 and was extradited to Orange County a month later.

Castaldi is being held at Orange County’s Theo Lacy jail and is scheduled to return to court Aug. 12, according to jail records.

Huntington Beach police and prosecutors alleged that Castaldi, Christian Palmer of Sacramento, Sohrab Anaraki of Topanga and Bradley Thomas Williams of Dana Point met the girl online and used fake names on several social media platforms to communicate with her.

Williams pleaded guilty Dec. 18 of two felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, one felony count of luring a child with intent of committing a crime and one felony count of meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct, court records show. Williams was sentenced Dec. 28 to three years in state prison, records show.

Palmer pleaded guilty Dec. 18 to nine felony counts, including seven of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, one of meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct and one of oral copulation with a person under 14, according to court records. Palmer was sentenced to three years in state prison, records show.

Anaraki pleaded not guilty June 13 to six felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, one felony count of luring a child with intent of committing a crime and one felony count of meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct, according to court records. Anaraki is free on $100,000 bond and is scheduled to be back in court Aug. 22, records show.

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