Ventura County prosecutors once again filed sex crime charges against a Newhall man after he was twice convicted of crimes involving minors in L.A. County, receiving a suspended sentence for his second conviction.
Christian Navarro, 25, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual misconduct involving a 14-year-old girl, according to Ventura County prosecutors, who confirmed Friday this was the second time in almost a month they were filing sex crime charges against Navarro.
They also leveled five counts against him May 14, connected to charges of the same nature.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Department investigators have declined multiple requests to discuss the investigation and resulting charges.
Criminal complaints released by the Ventura County District Attorney’s office accused Navarro of luring, lewd acts upon a child, oral copulation and unlawful sexual intercourse for allegations they say happened May 10.
A complaint filed in court Wednesday states prosecutors believe that while Navarro was on bail for those allegations, he committed two additional sex crimes against a different victim on June 14, for which he was arraigned Wednesday.
He pleaded not guilty and has a bail review hearing Monday afternoon in Ventura.
He’s currently in custody and being held without bail.
Prior to the Ventura County allegations, Navaro was on probation for convictions alleging he furnished minors with drugs.
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Daniel Feldstern ordered a no-bail arrest warrant and a revocation of bail May 15 for Navarro, following a report from Navarro’s probation officer the previous day.
Two days later, Navarro had a bench warrant hearing in front of Feldstern in which he was remanded to custody and held in lieu of $380,000 bail.
Navarro was released on bond the following day, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department custody records available online.
Navarro originally was convicted on a drug possession charge after Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested him on suspicion of selling marijuana to minors in February 2021.
He was sentenced to four days in jail and summary probation as the result of a plea deal in that case, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
In June 2023, J-Team detectives with the SCV station said they linked an Instagram moniker belonging to Navarro to the sale of marijuana products to local junior high students.
After this second arrest, Navarro ultimately was charged with eight felony counts, including three counts of child abuse and five felony counts of furnishing marijuana to a minor.
For his second conviction, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Daniel Feldstern gave Navarro a four-year suspended sentence.
The court record stated he served six months and was given credit for another nearly six months for good behavior/work time, according to a minute order of the proceedings of his sentencing shared by the DA’s Office in response to a request for comment.
