Man gets 97 to life for molesting girl for years in Costa Mesa

A 37-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 97 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting a female relative beginning when she was 4 until she was 16 in Costa Mesa.

Sergio Arroyo Miralrio was convicted Jan. 29 of a dozen felony counts related to the assaults.

The victim came forward to Costa Mesa police in September 2021 when she was 16. She reported the relative had been sexually assaulting her since she was in first grade, prosecutors said in a sentencing brief.

Miralrio met her when she was 4, prosecutors said. By third grade the sexual assaults “escalated” to intercourse, prosecutors said. She estimated it happened more than 20 times, prosecutors said.

The girl tried to tell her mother about it in seventh grade, but her mother didn’t believe her, prosecutors said. She kept quiet until she was 16 and told her aunt about it to “explain her recent behavior,” and the aunt took her to the police, prosecutors said.

Several weeks later the girl’s mother contacted police to tell them she recorded an incriminating conversation with the defendant, prosecutors said.

“She told him he didn’t need to lie anymore and used a ruse that she had a video of the defendant” and the victim, prosecutors said.

“The defendant admitted that he began touching [the victim] when she was 4 years old,’’ prosecutors said.

The victim’s mother then had him call his parents, sister and the girl to apologize and recorded the call on her phone, prosecutors said.

When police went to question him the defendant admitted his crimes, prosecutors said.

“He admitted that his porn addiction caused him to develop an attraction to [the victim] and he would fantasize about taking advantage of her,’’ prosecutors said.

During the trial Miralrio testified that he lied to the detective to “spare” the victim, prosecutors said. He testified that the two had a consensual sexual relationship, prosecutors said.