Exclusive | Mom of teen girl who killed herself after dads horrific incest takes aim at Gov. Gavin Newsom
A heartbroken mom whose teenage daughter died by suicide after the girl’s biological father had sex with her is demanding Gov.Gavin Newsom crack down on California’s sex crime laws after the digusting dad escaped with just one year in county jail.Carolina Sandoval told The California Post she wants lawmakers to pass legislation in daughter Makayla Rene Settles’ name, after Stephen Vincent Chavez, 41, was sentenced to one year in county jail and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to felony incest and furnishing alcohol to a minor.“It is ridiculous.
It’s not justice,” Sandoval, 40, said of the sentence.“I’m going to fight to change these laws because no other family should have to go through what we’ve gone through.”Settles, 18, had moved from her childhood home in North Carolina to Moorpark, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, to live with her father.
In July of 2025, Chavez plied her with alcohol before having sex with her.Makayla died by suicide five months later.Prosecutors ultimately did not file a rape charge, saying the evidence only supported the incest conviction.
Chavez insisted the encounter was consensual.Sandoval said other victims of sexual abuse who attended Chavez’s court hearings blasted Newsom for what they believe is a weak approach to prosecuting sex crimes.“They let me know this is just how he is.
If anything, what happened with Makayla proves all of them right.It makes sense why everybody’s so angry,” she said.
“I would love for him to take the time to look at the entire case and see what went wrong and where changes can happen for other victims.“It’s exactly why women don’t speak out.They relive everything over and over only for the end result to come out like this.
It’s a slap in the face.”Sandoval said prosecutors later told her a rape charge could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt despite her daughter giving detectives multiple statements, including a recorded video intervi...