BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A 27-year-old man is facing kidnapping and multiple child sex-related charges after allegedly driving a 10-year-old girl more than 250 miles from her home in Taft, California, after meeting her on the online gaming platform Roblox.

Court documents reveal that the girl initially believed she was going to a nearby park when Matthew Naval picked her up. During the drive, she became distracted and only realized hours later that she was far from home.

“Once I realized we were far away from my house, I did want to go home, but I did not actually ask him to take me home because I did not know how to ask that,” the girl told Kern County sheriff’s investigators. “I was thinking about how to ask him though,” she added.

Naval was arrested on April 13 after police found him and the child in his car at a strip mall in Elk Grove, north of Sacramento. He is currently being held on $1.35 million bail.

In a jailhouse interview with KGET, Naval claimed the girl told him she was 18 and insisted they “pretty much” just held hands. However, court documents state he admitted to kissing her and said he would have “really considered” sexual contact had she been willing. He also attempted to rent a hotel room in Fresno but was denied due to a lack of ID.

Naval’s attorney, Mark Anthony Raimondo, said his client has autism and was simply trying to make a friend.

Disturbingly, investigators learned from the girl’s friends that she had previously mentioned paying someone to kidnap her. She also posted a TikTok video captioned, “First time getting kidnapped, lmao,” while filming out of a moving car.

The girl’s family reported her missing the morning of April 13. Using a tracking app, they traced her phone to Elk Grove and noticed it was connected to a mobile hotspot named “Matthew’s iPhone.” They also linked her to a Roblox user with the handle “TheMatt3798,” later identified as Naval.

License plate readers had captured Naval’s vehicle in Kern County early that morning. Detectives pinged the girl’s phone and worked with Elk Grove police, who located the car around 3:35 p.m. with Naval in the driver’s seat and the child beside him.

Naval is scheduled to appear in court again next month as the investigation continues.

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