A man was sentenced Wednesday by a San Luis Obispo County Judge to 142 years and eight months in prison for child sex crimes.
Judge Craig van Rooyen told Marco Antonio Navabarrera, “You are a serial predator, you destroyed the family, you will face the consequences,” when handing down the maximum sentence allowed to the 47-year-old.
Navabarrera was convicted by a jury last month of eight counts of sexual abuse of two victims in San Miguel. Now ages 9 and 19, the victims told the judge during their abuser’s sentencing about how the crimes had affected them.
One of the victims said their childhood had been stolen from them by the molestation that occurred over seven years.
“The foster mom to one of the victims told the Judge that her son, ‘would not be [the defendant’s] victim, he would be a victor’,” According to a DA’s Office press release, which says the crimes occurred between 2015 and 2019.
“We applaud these young survivors for speaking out and having their voices heard. We hope that their courage to report and testify and the resulting long prison sentence will encourage other victims of all ages in our community to report and seek help from law enforcement,” said District Attorney Dan Dow in a press release. “We will hold child predators accountable and when they are convicted, we will do everything legally possible to remove them from society so that they cannot victimize a vulnerable child ever again.”
