Suspected child predator arrested after Arizona teen set him up by giving mother’s phone number – LatinTimes

An alleged child predator has been arrested after a clever Arizona teenager gave him her mother’s phone number, claiming it was her own.

Isaiah Navarro, 37, was tricked by a girl he approached on his way home from school. From his vehicle, Navarro tried to talk to the 14-year-old girl, asking for directions to a McDonald’s and then her phone number. He insisted after she refused, so she entered her mother’s phone number into his phone and continued home.

According to Glendale police, Navarro began texting the number under the impression he was talking to the girl. Posing as the 14-year-old, police continued the text conversation with Navarro on a secure app.

“He still thinks he’s having a conversation with a 14-year-old. This becomes very apparent very quickly. He starts describing sexual acts that he says he would like to do with this 14-year-old child,” Jose Santiago, Glendale’s Public Safety Media Relations Manager, told 12 News.

The police report alleges that Navarro attempted to exchange photos with the girl and called her approximately 30 times before a meeting was arranged. In the gym parking lot, where Navarro expected to meet the juvenile, Glendale detectives arrested him.

“We don’t have any record of his previous arrests, we don’t have any contact that he’s been in prison at any other time, but this is a guy who was quite brash,” Santiago said. “The fact that he was able and willing to do that to a 14-year-old, who knows what else he would be capable of doing.”

Police are asking anyone with additional information about this suspect to call Glendale detectives at 623-930-3000.

Navarro is being held on $250,000 bail on a charge of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.