A Georgia man who brought a girl from Texas to Fort Myers and later hid with her in a Port Charlotte home has been sentenced to nearly 34 years in federal prison.

Vincent Joseph Robusto, 42, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced in Fort Myers federal court after a jury found him guilty of transporting a minor for sex and illegally having a gun as a convicted felon. He will also spend the rest of his life under supervision and must register as a sex offender.

According to court records, Robusto used a social media app to talk with a minor and make sexual plans. In July 2021, he bought her a plane ticket from Texas to Fort Myers using his bank card. He gave the airline her name and birthdate, showing he knew she was underage.

On July 17, 2021, surveillance cameras at Southwest Florida International Airport captured Robusto picking up the girl.

Days later, her parent contacted police in Dilley, Texas, to report her missing. Police tracked the girl’s phone to a house in Port Charlotte and called the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for help.

On July 23, around 3 a.m., deputies went to the home and found Robusto with the girl. Inside the house, officers found a backpack on the kitchen table. Inside was a gun and ammunition, which Robusto was not allowed to have due to a past felony.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement later tested the gun and a sexual assault kit. They found Robusto’s DNA on both.

The case was handled by the FBI’s Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with help from Charlotte County deputies and other agencies. It was part of Project Safe Childhood, a national program to stop child sex abuse.