MONTANA, USA — Alicia Navarro's "boyfriend" has been criminally charged with allegedly possessing sexually exploitative materials depicting children.
Edmund Davis, 36, was arrested on Monday after Glendale Police and Montana investigators found over 80 images that included children being sexually abused and exploited, some who were younger than five years old, according to Montana arresting court documents.
Davis's arrest comes nearly three months after Navarro walked into the Havre Police Department station and asked to be removed from a missing persons list. She was 14 years old when she went missing from her Glendale home on Sept. 15, 2019.
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It's still unclear how Navarro, now 19 years old, came to be living with Davis in Montana. Court documents do not specify that Navarro was depicted in any of the explicit material found in Davis's cell phone.
"He's facing some very serious prison time," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told 12News. "We're talking about a 100-year sentence where he is not eligible for parole for at least 25 years."
Search warrant leads to child sex porn
On July 26, three days after Navarro identified herself to the police, authorities executed a search warrant at the apartment where Navarro and Davis lived.
Documents said Davis had been seen in the presence of Navarro before she went to the Havre Police Department and was later identified as Navarro's boyfriend.
When investigators went to serve the warrant, Navarro allegedly stated no one was present at the apartment, but officers saw Davis in the kitchen behind Navarro, records said.
"Edmund was seen throwing a cellphone into the trash and placing items on top of said phone," arresting documents said. Knudsen said those "items" were oatmeal.
Three cellphones, including the one from the kitchen trashcan, a laptop computer, and an Xbox One, were seized from the home. Glendale Police took custody of the electronics.
"It should be noted that Glendale PD learned more information concerning Alicia's disappearance in 2019 during the execution of the residence warrant in Havre, and in follow-up interviews with people close to the involved parties," documents read.
During the search, investigators learned the cell phone placed in the trashcan belonged to Davis. On that device, Glendale Police found over 80 images allegedly depicting both female and male teens, infants, and toddlers.
Davis's arrest
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen tells 12News that Alicia Navarro was with Edmund Davis when he was arrested on Monday in Chinook, Montana.
"She actually was traveling to a court hearing," Knudsen said. "She was attempting to change her name. It sounds like she was unaware of his activities dealing with child sex abuse material involving children. It sounds like she did not take that well when she learned of that yesterday."
Knudsen told 12News he hopes Davis's arrest helps them figure out how Navarro went missing because "up to this point, she has been unwilling to discuss the how and the why where she has been for the last five years and how she got to Montana."
Knudsen said the current charges are only based on evidence found on Davis's electronics.
When Navarro was first questioned by police in July, she reportedly told them that no one had hurt her. Glendale police said Tuesday that the case into Navarro's initial disappearance is still under investigation and declined to comment on Davis' charges.
Davis is being held on a $1 million bond. He is facing up to life in prison.
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