San Jose man who sexually abused children sentenced in SLO to 142 years to life

Mar. 15—A San Jose man who sexually abused two children could spend the rest of his life in prison.

On Wednesday, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen sentenced Marco Antonio Navabarrera to 142 years to life in state prison, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office announced in a news release.

In February, a San Luis Obispo jury convicted the 36-year-old man of eight felony sex crimes, including sexual penetration with a child under age 10 and committing lewd acts on a child under 14.

At Wednesday's hearing, Navabarrera's victims — now 9 and 19 years old — "stood strong when telling the judge how the defendant's crimes against them had affected them personally," the District Attorney's Office said in the release.

"One specifically described how their childhood was stolen from them by the cruel acts of molestation at such a young age and over a seven-year period," the agency said, while the foster mom of one of the victims told the judge that her son "would not be (the defendant's) victim, he would be a victor.'

After hearing from the victims, van Rooyen issued the maximum punishment allowed by California law, the release said.

"You are a serial predator," van Rooyen told Navabarrera. "You destroyed the family, you will face the consequences."

Navabarrera's crimes took place between 2015 and 2019, the District Attorney's Office said in February.

"We applaud these young survivors for speaking out and having their voices heard," San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow said in Wednesday's release. "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.

"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."

The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation and Child Abuse Interview Team, the release said.

According to the release, the case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kristin Barnard, who is assigned to the District Attorney's Sexual Violence Unit.

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