A Southern California man who posed online as a teenage boy and lured a 15-year-old girl into a sexual relationship before bringing her to Mexico was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years behind bars following his conviction on federal charges in downtown Los Angeles.
Daniel Navarro, 42, of Victorville — who sometimes posed online as “Angel” — was found guilty by a jury in July 2025 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 and other charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Navarro was arrested in July 2022 as he entered the United States from Mexico 10 days after he brought the victim to Mexico just before her quinceañera, prosecutors said. The victim, an Arizona girl who was spending the summer in the Central Coast town of Nipomo, was rescued by Mexican authorities from a Tijuana residence after Navarro’s arrest.
Evidence presented to a federal jury showed one of Navarro’s Instagram accounts revealed conversations between Navarro and the girl in which Navarro professed his love for her and discussed having sex in order to impregnate her.
Navarro took the victim from San Luis Obispo County to Tijuana with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, the jury found. He was also found guilty of using Instagram to distribute child pornography to the girl and with transporting child pornography on his phone as he traveled across the border.
Evidence at trial also showed that Navarro used Instagram to persuade, induce and entice a second teenage girl to send him sexual images.