LANCASTER, PA — A Lancaster City sex offender arrested by the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force (HTTF) pleaded guilty to four charges regarding solicitation of sex from a minor.
Jose Villa Corta, 48 of the 900 block of N. Prince Street, was sentenced to 1-5 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in front of Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker to charges of attempted statutory sexual assault (defendant 11 years older than the victim), attempted corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, and soliciting/patronizing a victim of sexual servitude.
Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick prosecuted the case and stressed the deterrent effect a significant sentence would have on these types of crimes.
The HTTF, with the assistance of the FBI, began an undercover detail in June 2022 focused on the solicitation of minors online. Online advertisements were created for prostitution.
As part of the detail, investigators began communicating with Villa Corta, who agreed to pay $100 to have unprotected sex with a 13-year-old. Villa Corta was instructed to go to a hotel on Lincoln Highway and he asked if he could bring a pizza.
Villa Corta was arrested on June 9, 2022, around 9 p.m. after he arrived at the hotel with a cell phone matching the number used to solicit the sex, $100 in cash, and a pizza. Villa Corta admitted to the acts in a subsequent interview.
Lancaster County Human Trafficking Task Force and Northwest Regional Police Detective Charles Tobias filed charges.
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