A court has sentenced a former Democratic Arizona state lawmaker after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child. He was convicted in February of molesting a young teenage boy that he was caring for at the time.
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Sen. Otoniel Navarrete on Friday was sentenced to only one year in prison for his crime.
A former state lawmaker found guilty of one charge of sexual conduct with a minor was sentenced to one year in prison on Friday, a far cry from the 49 years he initially faced.
With good behavior, former Arizona Sen. Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete could be released earlier.
A jury in February found Navarrete guilty of sexual conduct with a minor aged 15 or older, a Class 6 felony. The Phoenix Democrat was acquitted of one count of child molestation and another sexual conduct charge.
According to the Arizona Republic, Navarrete turned down a 60-day sentence followed by 10 years of supervised probation because that deal meant he would have to admit guilt in the crimes. He had maintained his innocence in statements after the indictment was released.
He was arrested in 2021, amid his third term as a state lawmaker. Navarrete faced 49 years in prison for his crimes involving multiple minors, but a November 2023 mistrial washed away most of those charges.
The victim, who was between the ages of 13 and 15 when he was molested, told the court during the trial that he lived with the lawmaker even after being sexually assaulted, because he had been living in a “dysfunctional” home.
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The former lawmaker has maintained his innocence. The three-term legislator from Phoenix was a rising star in the Democratic Party before his August 2021 arrest by Phoenix police.
Before Culbertson ordered the sentence, prosecutor Michael Minicozzi said Navarrete deserved “life” in prison. He asked for the maximum time available in the case of one year in prison and stressed that Navarrete let down not just his family, but the community.
Navarrete was “literally going to work to do the people’s business,” then going home to molest a child, the prosecutor said.
“There can’t actually be justice in this case today in here, and for that I am truly sorry,” Minicozzi said.
During the sentencing, the victim listened in on the proceedings through virtual conferencing. A number of the lawmaker’s friends and family members vouched for his character and urged the judge to levy an easy sentence.
Part of the former lawmaker’s trial centered on recordings of phone calls with the victim.
In the recorded phone call, the older alleged victim asks Navarrete why he touched his penis but isn’t specific about whether that happened multiple times or went beyond touching to oral sex, which is part of the charges.
“Of course, I regret any bad actions mijo, that I did,” Navarrete said on the call. “I wish everything could be different … I’m so sorry mijo.” Navarrete continues to say that he regrets “it” and that he had sexual experiences from as young as he can remember. “I’ve never hurt someone like that before,” Navarrete said.
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Navarrete was elected as a State Representative in 2016. He was elected as State Senator two years later. After his arrest and the surfacing of the allegations, he resigned even though he claimed he was not guilty.