Man caught in sting convicted of molesting 2 girls in Huntington Beach

A 60-year-old man was convicted Wednesday of molesting two girls and attempting to molest another one in a sting operation in a Huntington Beach hotel.

Jason Valentine 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 set up an eight-month long 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 convicted 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, another one in September 2016 and the sting operation with Huntington Beach police was conducted in April 2023.