Stephen Vincent Chavez is scheduled for release Monday after serving roughly five months behind bars for sexually abusing his biological daughter.
Chavez, 41, pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of incest and one misdemeanor count of furnishing alcohol to a minor, Ventura County prosecutors said. Judge Dusty Kawai of Ventura County Superior Court formally sentenced him on June 23 to one year in Ventura County Jail plus three years probation. An inmate record shows his release date is set for Monday, November 9.
The victim was his 18-year-old daughter, Makayla Settles, who had moved from North Carolina to Moorpark, California, to live with him and start fresh. Investigators said the assault occurred in July 2025 after Chavez supplied her with alcohol during a family gathering and then purchased more for them to drink at his home.
Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Tessa McCarty said the teenager had trusted Chavez to care for and protect her after relocating across the country.
“[Chavez] violated this trust and shattered the father-daughter relationship in an unimaginable way,” McCarty said.
Makayla died by suicide on December 28, five months after the assault. The case has drawn sustained online outrage over what critics call lenient treatment of Chavez, particularly after authorities revealed he had initially faced the prospect of just three years in state prison.
Chavez moved up his scheduled court appearance to enter the plea, and prosecutors said he acknowledged abusing a position of trust and targeting a particularly vulnerable victim. Following the guilty plea, he was immediately taken into custody and required to register as a sex offender for 20 years.
Earlier this year, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors spent months examining whether additional charges, including rape, could be pursued. “[The] analysis that included multiple interviews, additional forensic testing, medical evaluations and an extensive review of electronic evidence,” the DA’s Office said. “After doing so and convening a team of the office’s top sexual assault prosecutors to review the findings, the District Attorney’s Office is confident that this case was properly charged based upon the law, facts and evidence presented.”
Social media users reacted to news of Chavez’s impending release with renewed fury, with posts calling the outcome “extremely infuriating” and “disgusting.”
The original incident that launched the case took place in July 2025, when Makayla Settles was staying with Chavez at his Moorpark home after moving from North Carolina hoping to begin a new chapter. After a day of drinking at a family gathering, Chavez bought additional alcohol for him and his daughter to consume at home, then engaged in sexual intercourse with her, according to Ventura County DA officials.
Chavez will be required to complete his probation term and maintain sex offender registration upon his release.