A local Little League baseball coach will spend at least a decade behind bars after pleading guilty to attempting to entice a 13-year-old girl to have sex with him.
On Wednesday, November 20, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that 48-year-old Joseph Rocco Quaranta has pleaded guilty to attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.
In July, Quaranta was nabbed in an online child sex sting operation led by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. A little over two months later, he was indicted on the attempted enticement charge.
According to court documents, on Thursday, July 25, an undercover MCSO detective posed online as a 13-year-old girl.
Quaranta, who is from Dunnellon, contacted the undercover detective’s account and began engaging in a “sexually explicit conversation” after “learning the minor’s age.”
Quaranta then made arrangements to meet the minor at a predetermined location in Marion County in order to have sex with her. Shortly after arriving at this location, Quaranta was met by law enforcement officers and placed under arrest.
After being arrested, Quaranta told MCSO deputies that he was volunteering as Little League baseball coach in Marion County.
Quaranta is facing a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case against Quaranta, with assistance from the Ocala Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Chiefland Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations.