SAN DIEGO -- A man who paid babysitters hundreds of dollars to bring him three young children to molest -- including a 3-year-old boy in an El Cajon hotel room -- was sentenced Thursday to 45 years to life in state prison.

Jared Ravin Yaffe, 31, pleaded guilty May 7 to three counts of committing a lewd act on a child and admitted multiple victim allegations.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Greco said Yaffe's life sentence was deserved.

"His targeting of small, vulnerable children merits this type of punishment," the prosecutor said.

In a hearing before Judge Charles Gill, the prosecutor read a sampling of graphic text messaging between Yaffe and Aaron Zendejas, the man who brought him the 3-year-old boy in June 2008.

Greco said Yaffe had the child perform a sex act on him, which was videotaped.

Yaffe also used the Internet to get babysitters to bring him 6- and 10-year-old victims to molest in the Northern California town of Union City -- acts that were also caught on video, Greco said.

Yaffe used social networking websites such as YouTube and MySpace to find victims "to satisfy his sexual fantasies," Greco said.

The grandfather of the 3-year-old victim confronted the defendant in court, calling him a "monster" and telling the judge that he had to identify his grandson in the molestation video.

"I'll never forget the look (my grandson) had on his face," the man said.

The grandfather told Yaffe that he "ruined" his grandson and damaged the boy for life.

"I hope your life is a living hell from here on out," he told the defendant.

Defense attorney Knut Johnson told the judge that Yaffe has acknowledged that what he did was the "worst of the worst," and knows he will probably die in prison.

Investigators got a "fantastic tip" from a good Samaritan and tracked Yaffe to Brazil, where he was arrested in May 2009, Greco said.

Police found numerous photos of child pornography on Yaffe's computer and cell phone.

"There was a mountain of evidence ... horrible, graphic evidence that he (Yaffe) created," the prosecutor said.

Zendejas, now 25, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and other charges and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.