Man who transported teen from Nipomo to Mexico for sex sentenced

May 15, 2026

Daniel Navarro

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A man who took an Arizona teen from her grandmother’s home in Nipomo to Mexico for illicit sexual activity received a sentence on Wednesday of 45 years in federal prison.

Daniel Navarro, 42, of Victorville, was found guilty last July of two counts of sexual exploitation of a child for production purposes, one count of attempted enticement of a minor for 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.

With plans to sexually exploit the teen, Navarro and Julie Le, 20, of Garden Grove formed online relationships and then talked the 15-year-old girl into running away with them on June 1, 2022.

More than a year earlier, Navarro befriended the teen’s older brother on social media and they began playing online games together. Navarro claimed he was a 15-year-old boy named “Angel.”

Later, introducing himself as a friend of her brother’s, Navarro began playing online games with the teen and her younger sister.

On Feb. 8, 2022, Navarro and the then-14-year-old teen began engaging in non-game related communications. The conversations quickly turned romantic with both calling the other “baby.” They professed their love for each other in conversations on Instagram.

On March 26, 2022, Navarro talked the teen into sending him nude photos while she was in the shower.

The Arizona teen, who regularly visited her grandmother in Nipomo, also spent time with a cousin who lives in Santa Maria.

The teen introduced her cousin to “Angel,” who began texting the cousin. After Navarro abducted the teen, the cousin told deputies during an interview she thought “Angel” was older because he used “big words” and did not understand slang or “teen words.”

In March or April 2022, “Angel” contacted the cousin and asked her to run away with him. The cousin said, “No.”

On June 30, 2022, the day before the abduction, phone records show the teen and Navarro had a conversation.

During an intensive investigation, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents were able to track the teen and her abductors to Mexico and arrest Navarro and Le. Mexican law enforcement officers rescued the victim at a Tijuana residence in July 2022.

Navarro “was a nearly-40-year-old man making empty promises to dozens of girls in pursuit of his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. Navarro “lied to, groomed, and manipulated children to get what he wanted most from them: sexually explicit images and sex acts with these children.”

United States District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. sentenced Navarro to 45 years in prison and ordered him to pay $15,000 in restitution. Navarro has remained in federal custody since July 2022.