H.B. man, 26, gets over 14 years in prison for trafficking and having sex with teenage girl

A 26-year-old Huntington Beach man pleaded guilty and was sentenced this month to 14 years and eight months in prison for human trafficking and engaging in sexual activities with a teenage girl.

Antonio Romano Caserta pleaded guilty Nov. 17 to four felonies, including human trafficking of a minor, unlawful sexual intercourse, committing a lewd act upon a child and dissuading a witness by force or threat, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

In addition to his prison sentence, Caserta will have to register as a sex offender.

According to prosecutors, Caserta began grooming the then-14-year-old girl in early 2014 and had sexual relations with her several times.

In November that year, Caserta was convicted and sentenced to six years and one month in prison for furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, unlawful sexual intercourse and sexual penetration of a minor with a foreign object.

But according to prosecutors, Caserta continued his relationship with the teen while he was in prison, speaking with her by phone about 1,400 times and making sexually explicit remarks and encouraging her to have phone sex with him. He also told her to perform sex acts for money and threatened her to dissuade her from reporting him, prosecutors said.