Former Esports Professional Pleads Guilty to Felony Sex Crime

Former esports professional Victor Davila Pleads Guilty to felony sex crime in Utah.

Victor Manuel Davila pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony charge of enticing a minor as part of a plea deal in Utah on July 31. Another charge, attempted rape of a child (a first-degree felony) was dismissed as part of that plea deal in the First District Court in Logan, Utah. The story was first reported by Cache Valley Daily.

The Esports Advocate reported that Davilla was arrested in Logan City, Utah, on Aug. 18, 2023, for traveling across state lines to meet an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl for “casual sex” (as part of a sting operation). Even after the undercover officer informed Davila that they were underage, he still decided to make the trip from California to Utah to meet them anyway. When he arrived in Logan City, he was promptly arrested by police.

The California resident is best known in the esports ecosystem for his time working as a sales manager under contract with gaming-focused group Tampa Never Sleeps and MSI. He is well known in the collegiate esports space, for event production, and influencer spaces, as well as the fighting game community in the United States—though at least one person claims that his online pedigree is mostly a work of fiction or greatly exaggerated.

Following news of his arrest last year, MSI EDU Program Manager Christine Fan noted on both LinkedIn and Twitter that Davila had been taking credit for events he never actually worked on such as CES, Dreamhack, PAX, E3, and more–the work he was taking credit for was hers. She also noted at the time that he was never part of MSI’s student program, was never her direct manager or supervisor, and therefore didn’t have any exposure to young people through the company and its programs. Tampa Never Sleeps ended its relationship with Davila shortly after the publication of our story in late August 2023.

Davila is currently out on bail (through a $60,000 bond) and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 6. He could face a maximum of 15 years in prison.