Democrat Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete will spend a maximum of a year in prison for sexually abusing a minor who he was caring for in his home.
The former Arizona state senator was facing a 49-year prison sentence for six felonies involving abuse of two minors, but in a trial in November 2023, he was acquitted of most of the charges, according to The Arizona Republic.
Navarrete was arrested in February 2021 during his third term as a state senator. He was initially accused of class 2 felony for sexual abuse of a child, three class 2 felonies for sexual conduct with a minor, one class 3 felony for attempted sexual conduct with a minor and two class 6 felonies for sexual conduct with a minor.
Among these charges, it was alleged that between July 2017 and June 2020, Navarrete sexually abused a child who was between the ages of 13 and 15 years old. Another charge alleged that he attempted to engage in similar behavior with another victim under the age of 15 between May and August 2019.
Sentence
Navarrete pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. He rejected a plea deal of 60 days in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised probation, which involved admitting his guilt.
The victim was a child who lived in his house. The now teenager assured during the trial that despite the sexual abuse he was suffering, he stayed with the former legislator because he previously lived in a "dysfunctional" home.
At the trial, prosecutor Michael Minicozzi stated that Navarrete deserved a "life sentence." However, due to Arizona's early release programs, Navarrete could even be released from prison early, in about seven months.
According to the prosecutor, Navarrete was "literally going to work to do the people's business," and returned home to abuse a child. "There can't actually be justice in this case today in here, and for that I am truly sorry," he concluded.
