Soccer Coach Who Molested Coachella Valley Girl Sentenced

INDIO (CNS) - A 53-year-old soccer coach who groped and made repeatedsexual advances toward a Coachella Valley girl was sentenced to twoyears' mandatory supervision on Tuesday. Rosario Navarro Gonzalez of Menifee pleaded guilty in February to twofelony counts of lewd acts on a minor. The plea was directly to RiversideCounty Superior Court Judge Michael Dest -- over the objections of the DistrictAttorney's Office. ``Our offer and request to the court was that the defendant besentenced to state prison,'' agency spokeswoman Molly Smith told City NewsService Tuesday. During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, the judgesentenced Gonzalez to mandatory supervision -- a form of probation -- in lieuof jail, as well as directed him to serve nine months in a sheriff's workrelease program, during which he'll have to remain gainfully employed, and toregister as a convicted sex offender under Penal Code section 290, barring himfrom contact with minors, except relatives. According to sheriff's investigators, the defendant coached girls'soccer in the Palm Desert area and initiated communication with the victim,identified only as a team member, in the summer of 2021, via social media whenshe was 13 years old. Through a series of texts and chats, he convinced the girl to send himnude pictures of herself, which she did in exchange for gift cards andmoney, according to a sheriff's arrest warrant affidavit filed in September2022. The communications continued with regularity, leading to at least onein-person rendezvous at a church parking lot in Desert Hot Springs during theautumn of 2021. The warrant declaration stated Gonzalez coaxed the youth intohis vehicle, where he kissed and embraced her as she sat on his lap, pressingone of her hands to his crotch before she wriggled out of his grasp. In February 2022, the defendant tracked the girl down while sheshopped with a friend in a Temecula mall. He gave her a $200 gift card as abirthday present and kissed her before she moved away from him, investigatorssaid. The girl deleted many of the messages exchanged with Gonzalez,possibly to conceal their interactions, according to court papers. After taking statements from the victim and the defendant, detectivesultimately determined there was sufficient evidence to arrest him, whichoccurred on Sept. 22, 2022. He had no documented prior felony convictions. For more Coachella Valley News visit NBCPalmSprings.com