SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CA — A 41-year-old San Bernardino County man who posed online as a teenage boy to entice an underage girl to have a sexual relationship with him — before transporting her to Mexico — was found guilty last week on six federal felony counts tied to his scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Daniel Navarro of Victorville was found guilty late Thursday of two counts of sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing a sexually explicit visual depiction, one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of transportation of child pornography, the DOJ announced.
Navarro’s scheme unraveled in July 2022 when he was arrested as he entered the United States from Mexico. He was nabbed 10 days after he brought the victim to Mexico, according to prosecutors.
The child, a 15-year-old Arizona girl, had been spending that summer in California’s Central Coast town of Nipomo in San Luis Obispo County.
According to evidence presented at Navarro’s four-day trial in Los Angeles, the defendant had sparked an online relationship with the girl. One of his Instagram accounts revealed conversations between him and the girl in which he professed his love for her and discussed having sex with her to impregnate her, prosecutors alleged.
Through his tactics, Navarro was able to transport the girl from San Luis Obispo County to Tijuana, Mexico, “with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity,” according to the DOJ narrative.
“Navarro also used Instagram to distribute child pornography to this minor and with transporting child pornography on his phone as he traveled from Tijuana, Mexico, up to San Luis Obispo County before making the return trip to Tijuana,” according to the narrative.
Prosecutors allege Navarro also used Instagram “to persuade, induce, and entice another second victim to send him sexual images.”
Following Navarro’s arrest, the Arizona girl who was transported was rescued by Mexican authorities from a Tijuana residence.
Navarro remains in federal custody. U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. scheduled an October 24 sentencing hearing. At that time, Navarro will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
