Arizona State Senator Resigns Following Arrest on Seven Child Sex Abuse Charges
Arizona State Senator Tony Navarrete has resigned following his August 5 arrest on seven child sex abuse charges. His resignation is effective immediately.
Navarrete is alleged to have sexually abused a 13-year-old boy while they lived together in a Phoenix residence. The abuse allegedly began around 2019 and continued until the boy was 15. Investigators said they have audio from August 5 in which Navarrete apologized over the phone to the boy for his past abuse.
"Of course I regret any bad actions that I did, absolutely wishing everything could be different," Navarrete allegedly told the boy in the recording, according to local Arizona news station KPHO-TV. Navarrete told the boy that "he wasn't well" when he touched him and reassured the boy that the abuse wasn't his fault. The former senator then said he felt unhappy about his actions and would have to live with them for the rest of his life.
Police arrested Navarrete on Thursday. In an August 6 joint statement, Arizona Senate and House Democrats called on Navarrete to resign. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey also called on him to resign.
Following his arrest, the 35-year-old first-term senator now faces a Class 2 felony molestation 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, according to Yahoo News. If convicted, he'll face a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 49 years.
Navarrete hasn't entered a plea on the charges. "We have no public comment at this time but want to emphasize the importance of the presumption of innocence in this case," Navarrete's lawyer, Roland Rillos, said, according to the Arizona Republic. A judge set Navarrete's bail at $50,000.
He was released on bail last Saturday. The court ordered him to surrender his passport, to not have any contact with minors and to wear an electronic monitor so that legal authorities may track his location, KPHO-TV reported.
Navarrete served as an Arizona state representative from 2017 to 2019. He then served as a state senator from 2019 until Tuesday.
Now that Navarrete, a Democrat, has resigned, the precinct committee chairmen of his former legislative district must nominate three Democratic candidates to possibly replace him. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will choose his replacement from the three candidates, AZ Central reported.
His replacement will then be sworn in and serve until his term ends. Navarrete's term ends in January 2023.
Newsweek contacted Navarrete's lawyer Roland Rillos for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
