Registered Sex Offender Gets Life in Federal Prison for Exploiting Minors in North Texas
ABILENE, Texas - A registered sex offender with a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child has been sentenced to life in federal prison after admitting to exploiting minors over a period spanning several years.
Troy Nathaniel Navarro, 34, was sentenced Oct. 1 after pleading guilty to enticement of a minor, production of child pornography and commission of a felony offense involving a minor by a registered sex offender.
The case began with a CyberTip submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children involving suspected child sexual abuse material stored on a commercial cloud service, according to federal court records.
Investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety's Criminal Investigations Division followed the digital trail, using subscriber information to link the activity to Navarro's residence in Throckmorton.
State and federal investigators subsequently executed search warrants and examined multiple electronic devices and online accounts.
The forensic investigation uncovered extensive digital communications and evidence that Navarro used the internet, cellphones and cloud-based services in the exploitation of minors, prosecutors said.
According to court records, Navarro's conduct occurred from 2023 through 2026. He admitted using or attempting to use, persuade, induce, coerce or entice minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could produce visual depictions of the abuse.
Navarro also admitted using interstate communications to entice a minor.
Prior child sexual assault conviction increased penalties
Navarro had previously been convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child (victim was an 11-year-old boy) and was required to register as a sex offender. He had been registered in Throckmorton County after he was discharged from his prison sentence in September 2010.
His status as a registered sex offender resulted in an additional federal charge and enhanced penalties when he committed another felony involving a minor.
A federal judge sentenced Navarro to life in prison for enticement of a minor and 600 months, or 50 years, for production of child pornography. Those sentences will run concurrently.
Navarro received an additional 120 months, or 10 years, for committing a felony involving a minor while a registered sex offender. That sentence will run consecutively to the other sentences.
Because the life sentence has no fixed expiration, the additional consecutive 10-year term does not create a meaningful projected release date. The court also imposed lifetime supervised release should Navarro ever be released from federal custody.
Navarro pleaded guilty to the three charges May 8.
The FBI Dallas Field Office's Wichita Falls Resident Agency and Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney James prosecuted the case through the Northern District of Texas' Abilene Division.
