SAN JOSE — A Santa Clara resident was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in federal prison for posing as a woman to entice a boy to masturbate on camera, court records show.

Sergio Casper Contreras, 48, was already a registered sex offender and on probation for a prior child pornography conviction at the time of the offense. And he has been to prison before; court records say that in 2012 a judge sentenced him to 87 months in federal prison for possessing thousand of graphic pictures and dozens of videos depicting children.

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This case was initiated in 2021, partially by Contreras himself. After failing a polygraph exam he admitting to possessing an electronic device that violated his search terms. Authorities investigated and found he had posed as a 20-year-old woman to entice a 14-year-old boy to masturbate on a video chat site that pairs up strangers.

He had other conversations with boys during the same time frame, and during the 2012 case admitted to molesting three children in separate, uncharged incidents, two of which occurred when he was a teen, prosecutors alleged in court records.

Contreras’ lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo that Contreras suffered abuse throughout his childhood and that this case was a result of Contreras trying to rehabilitate himself out of guilt.

“Mr. Contreras’ actions in this case exemplify his desire to stop the offending conduct and reach out for help,” a defense sentencing memo says. “He has been fully compliant and remorseful from the outset of the case.”

He was charged in 2024 and pleaded guilty to child enticement and possession of child pornography at his first court appearance, records show.

Contreras is being housed at a federal prison in Victorville, records show. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 to the boy he victimized.