A 10-year-old girl from California was kidnapped after posting “getting kidnapped lmao” as a joke on TikTok. The man allegedly behind the crime is now behind bars awaiting trial.
On April 13, 27-year-old Matthew Naval was discovered with the girl and her pet bird at a strip mall in Elk Grove — over 250 miles from her home in Kern County.
Naval reportedly met her on Roblox, an online gaming platform, in March 2025. The two had been chatting on Discord for some time before agreeing to meet up at midnight to hang out at a park together.
When discovered by law enforcement, the girl told authorities that she had lost track of time speaking with Naval in-person, and didn’t realize that he was driving away from her hometown until hours had already passed. She said she wasn’t sure how to bring it up to him at the time.
The 10-year-old victim reportedly met her kidnapper on Roblox, an online gaming platform.
Naval, however, claimed the girl had told him she was 18, saying he wanted to help her “escape” from her parents’ alleged verbal abuse.
The man also told authorities that they wanted to be together as a couple, as laid out in a report filed in the Kern County Superior Court. However, he allegedly admitted she looked younger in-person, telling a deputy, “I think it would be best if I don’t know how old she is.”
Naval’s attorney claims he suffers from mental health issues and that he might have autism, although no official diagnosis has been brought forward.
10-year-old kidnapped after posting “first time getting kidnapped” on TikTok
The kidnapping took place a day after the girl had posted a video on TikTok showing herself being driven in a car, looking out the window. The clip was captioned, “First time getting kidnapped, lmao.”
In a statement to deputies, she said that she “would like to know that he doesn’t do it to anyone else,” in response to a question about what she’d like to happen to Naval.
His lawyer, however, argues that Roblox should share some of the blame for the kidnapping.
“I think Roblox has to take some responsibility here. I think the parents have to take some responsibility,” he said. “The penalty for this travesty, which is a really, really huge misunderstanding, should not fall on Matthew’s shoulders alone.”
In a statement to a local news outlet, Naval admitted that he “should have been more careful.”
“I should’ve been more questioning when it came to having that person involved,” he said.
Kern County records show that Naval is currently being held in a Bakersfield prison on a $1.35 million bond.
He has been charged with a number of felonies, to all which he has pleaded not guilty. These include “one count of kidnapping, a count of kidnapping a child under 14 to commit lewd or lascivious acts, two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, a count of exhibiting harmful material to a minor, a count of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense and a count of contacting a minor to commit a sexual offense.”
Naval’s court date has been set for June 25, 2025.
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