Serial Offender Gary Steven Daniel II Pleads Guilty to Child Abuse Material Charges

A 47 year old Oxnard man with a history of sexual exploitation offenses spanning over a decade is facing a return to prison. Gary Steven Daniel II pleaded guilty on January 15, 2026, to multiple counts of possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The conviction is particularly egregious as Daniel was already a registered sex offender and was out on bail for a previous offense when his latest crimes were committed.

A Career of High Tech Exploitation

The investigation into Daniel began late last year when the Ventura County District Attorney’s Exploitation and Human Trafficking Unit received four CyberTip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Detectives discovered that Daniel was attempting to bypass law enforcement monitoring by storing massive amounts of illegal content in cloud based accounts. He accessed these files using a burner phone, a tactic often used by repeat offenders to hide their digital footprint from parole officers and forensic investigators.

Despite his attempts at encryption and anonymity, investigators traced gigabytes of material back to his Oxnard residence. This is not Daniel's first brush with the law for these specific crimes. His record includes a 2015 conviction in Missouri and a 2019 conviction in Ventura County that resulted in a six year prison sentence. He had been arrested as recently as July 2024 for a similar offense and was awaiting trial for that case when he was caught again in December 2025.

Severe Penalties for Repeat Offenses

The prosecution of Daniel was a collaborative effort involving a specialized task force dedicated to tracking digital predators. Howard Wise, the Ventura County District Attorney who handled the case, praised the investigators for their resilience in handling such disturbing evidence daily. By pleading guilty, Daniel admitted to his status as a prior offender and acknowledged that he violated the terms of his bail.

Daniel is currently being held in custody with bail set at 500,000 dollars. He is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court for sentencing on February 17, 2026. Given his extensive history and the fact that he continued to offend while under court supervision, he faces a maximum sentence of 8 years and 8 months in state prison. Local authorities hope this conviction serves as a permanent removal of a persistent threat to child safety in the region.

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