Santa Rosa man sentenced to life in prison for aggravated sex crimes against child

Javier Cruz Navarro, 35 years old of Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced yesterday to serve an indeterminate sentence of 35 years to life in state prison by the Honorable Dana Simonds.

District Attorney Rodriguez stated, “The young victim had the courage to come forward and disclose Mr. Navarro's horrific sexual abuse despite his threats and psychological abuse. The 35 years-to-life indeterminate sentence is entirely appropriate and will guarantee that Mr. Navarro will be in prison for at least 20 years."

In April of 2022, a 12-year-old child disclosed ongoing sexual abuse by Mr. Navarro. The victim told family members that the sexual abuse began two years earlier when the victim was only 10 years old. Navarro had regular and recurring access to the victim, and he would find ways to isolate, sexually abuse, and threaten the child. Navarro threatened to hurt or kill the victim’s mother if the victim ever told anyone about the abuse. After an investigation by the Santa Rosa Police Department, Navarro was arrested and charged with nineteen felony sex offenses.

On February 14, 2024, Navarro entered into an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office in which he pled no contest to, and was convicted of, four felony sex offenses. Specifically, Navarro was convicted of engaging in sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child younger than 11 years of age, aggravated sexual assault of a child, committing a forcible lewd act upon a child, and oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child younger than 11.

Navarro has been in custody since April of 2022, and will remain incarcerated until he completes his sentence or is released on "elder parole," the result of recent California legislation that now allows “elderly” prison inmates to be considered for parole after serving only 20 years of their sentence. Penal Code section 3055 originally went into effect in 2018, and with few exceptions allowed for inmates who reached 60 years of age and served 25 years of their sentence to be considered for release back into the community on parole. This “elderly parole” provision was amended in 2020 by the California Legislature to now allow almost all inmates who have reached the age of 50 and served only 20 years of their sentence – regardless of how long the sentence is - to be considered for parole. These early parole provisions apply to offenders like Navarro. Mr. Navarro will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Alex Fisher, assisted by District Attorney Investigator Dave Linscomb. Sergeant Rick Boehm headed the investigation on behalf of the Santa Rosa Police Department.