Lake County sheriff wants tougher sentence for deputy charged with underage sex

<p>Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero said he's asked the state Attorney General's office to reconsider a plea agreement it made with a former Lake County deputy.</p><p>Derik Navarro, 39, pleaded guilty Dec. 7 to having sex with his 14-year-old babysitter, according to the state Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the case due to a potential conflict with the Lake County District Attorney's Office.</p><p>Navarro faces up to three years formal probation and three months in county jail for pleading guilty to one count of unlawful intercourse with a child under the age of 16, state officials said. Rivero said he would not be required to register as a sex offender.</p><p>Rivero, in a written statement, called the sentence “a travesty of justice.”</p><p>“That a former deputy sheriff who, while employed as such, would plead guilty to having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old and receive such a deal is unconscionable,” he wrote.</p><p>County prosecutors initially charged Navarro with 18 felony counts involving two victims. One victim was dropped from the case.</p><p>The sexual misconduct occurred in 2005 and 2006, officials said. Navarro was fired in 2007 after five years with the department following an investigation into the allegations.</p><p>Navarro is scheduled to be sentenced next month in Lake County Superior Court. A judge must approve the plea agreement for it to be final.</p><p>Officials at the Attorney General's Office were not available for comment.</p><p>Contact Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 and glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>