Victorville Man Gets 45 Years After Posing as Teen Football Player on Instagram to Exploit Underage Girls
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (VVNG.com) — A Victorville man who posed as a teenage football player on Instagram to sexually exploit two 14-year-old girls was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, authorities announced.
Daniel Navarro, 42, was sentenced to 540 months in federal prison by United States District Judge André Birotte, Jr., who also ordered him to pay $15,000 in restitution. Navarro has remained in federal custody since July 2022.
According to evidence presented during a four-day trial in July 2025, Navarro used Instagram from at least August 2021 through July 2022 to convince two teenage girls that he was “Danny,” a 15-year-old football player from California.
Using the Instagram handles “dn.2021.01” and “dn84831,” Navarro groomed the victims and persuaded them to produce sexually explicit images of themselves, according to prosecutors.
A federal jury convicted Navarro of six felony charges, including two counts of sexual exploitation of a child to produce a sexually explicit visual depiction, attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, distribution of child pornography, and transportation of child pornography.
According to court documents, Navarro traveled with one of the victims — an Arizona girl spending the summer in Nipomo — to Tijuana, Mexico, between June 30 and July 1, 2022, with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Investigators said Navarro maintained an online relationship with the victim for approximately five months. Conversations recovered from one of Navarro’s Instagram accounts showed him professing his love for the victim and discussing getting her pregnant.
Mexican law enforcement rescued the victim from a residence in Tijuana in mid-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.”
The FBI and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistance was also provided by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City, and Mexican law enforcement authorities.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kathy Yu, Chief of Ethics, Trials, and Compliance, and Kevin B. Reidy of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted the case.
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