A Montana man who was found living with an teenager who disappeared from her Glendale home four years ago pleaded not guilty on Monday to child sexual abuse charges based on images that authorities found on his cellphone.
Edmund Davis, 36, was arrested on Oct. 23 and has been held on $1 million bail on two felony counts of the sexual abuse of children. His public defender has plans to file a motion for a bail reduction hearing.
At the stage of the investigation, there has been no confirmation from authorities on whether Davis is thought to be involved with the case of Alicia Navarro’s disappearance in September 2019.
Navarro vanished from her home a few days before her 15th birthday, leaving behind note. Her disappearance ignited a massive search that included the FBI. Her mother, Jessica Nuñez never gave up hope she would be found. She believed her daughter may have been lured away by someone she met online. Four years later, just shortly before Navarro turned 19, she willingly walked into the Havre, Montana, police station in July 2023 and asked authorities to be removed from the missing persons list.
After her appearance, police initiated an investigation which detailed that led Navarro had been living in Havre, Montana with Davis. Arizona law enforcement officers obtained warrants at his residence, in which they discovered images of child sexual abuse on Davis’ cellphone. Court reports detail that some of the images involved infants and toddlers. Some of the images were computer generated.
Neighbors reported to authorities that Davis had been living with Navarro for at least a year.
Davis has been charged with possessing images of a child or children under the age of 12 engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 to 100 years in prison. He has also been charged with possessing images of the sexual abuse of children under the age of 16, which carries a sentence of four to 100 years in prison.