US man has sex with daughter, 18, who killed herself 5 months later, gets 1 year jail, mother vows to fight for law change

The mother of a teenage girl who died months after her biological father had sex with her is calling on California's governor to reform the state's sex crime laws, after the father received just one year in county jail.

Stephen Vincent Chavez, 41, of Moorpark, California, U.S. pleaded guilty to one felony count of incest and one misdemeanour count of furnishing alcohol to a minor, receiving one year in county jail and three years' probation, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to New York Times, his daughter, Makayla Rene Settles, 18, died by suicide in December 2025, five months after the incident.

What happened

Makayla had moved from her childhood home in North Carolina to Moorpark to live with her father. In July 2025, prosecutors said Chavez provided her with alcohol before the incident took place.

The district attorney's office said in a statement:

"After a day of drinking at a family gathering, Chavez purchased additional alcohol for himself and his daughter to consume at home. Chavez then engaged in sexual intercourse with her."

Chavez insisted the encounter was consensual.

Prosecutors looked into whether a rape charge could be brought but ultimately determined that incest was the only charge the evidence could support.

Mother's reaction

Makayla's mother, Carolina Sandoval, 40, told The California Post the sentence was inadequate and that she intended to push for legislative change in her daughter's name.

She said:

"It is ridiculous. It's not justice. I'm going to fight to change these laws because no other family should have to go through what we've gone through."

Sandoval said her daughter had given investigators multiple statements, including a recorded video interview and an audio recording of Makayla speaking to her cousin about the incident. But after Makayla's death, prosecutors told her the evidence was no longer valid.

She said:

"But once she died, they told me her evidence was no longer valid. They even have an audio recording of Makayla telling her cousin what happened. You can hear the heartbreak in her voice. They had all this information, but they said it wasn't enough."

On why the case had resonated so widely, she said:

"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."

Why the sentence was lighter

According to New York Post, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Dusty Kawai said he could not impose the maximum three-year state prison term because Chavez had no prior criminal record. Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence.

Deputy District Attorney Tessa McCarty said:

"Chavez exploited his position as a father, violated his daughter's trust, supplied her with alcohol, and engaged in criminal conduct that forever altered the course of her life."

She added:

"While we respect the court's decision, we continue to believe a state prison sentence was warranted under the facts of this case."

Chavez must also register as a sex offender for 20 years.

Governor's office responds

Sandoval said other sexual abuse survivors who attended the court hearings had expressed frustration with what they saw as California Governor Gavin Newsom's weak approach to prosecuting sex crimes.

Newsom's office told the Post it could not comment on decisions made by local law enforcement or courts, but pushed back on the criticism.

The office said:

"The suggestion that Governor Newsom does not take sexual assault seriously is simply false. Throughout his administration, the Governor has consistently signed legislation, invested in survivor services, strengthened protections for victims, and expanded resources to prevent sexual violence and support survivors."

Sandoval said California's sex abuse laws were "a huge grey area," adding: "Something has to change. It feels like they cater to the predator more than the victim."