13-Year-Old Kidnapping and Sexual Assault Victim Rescued When Passersby Spot Her Sign: Police
A 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas and sexually assaulted was rescued in Southern California when passersby saw her hold up a “help me” sign in a parked car, police and federal authorities said.
The rescue occurred July 9 in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, when officers responded to a call and found the “visibly emotional and distressed girl,” police said in a Thursday news release.
“Through their investigation, officers learned the Good Samaritans were in a parking lot when they saw the victim in a parked vehicle holding up a piece of paper with ‘help me’ written on it. They acknowledged the note and immediately called 9-1-1,” police said.
Steven Robert Sablan, 61, of Cleburne, Texas, was arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
The girl was walking down a street in San Antonio, Texas, on July 6 when Sablan drove up, raised a handgun and told her, “If you don’t get in the car with me, I am going to hurt you,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint.
Sablan sexually assaulted the girl on the drive from San Antonio through New Mexico and Arizona and into California, the affidavit said. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother reported her missing to San Antonio authorities on July 7.
In Long Beach, the suspect parked at a laundromat and told the girl to change her clothes, then took her clothes and his inside, creating the opportunity for the girl to write “help me” on a piece of note paper, according to the document.
When Long Beach police officers arrived, Sablan was standing outside the car and they observed the girl mouth the word “help,” the agent wrote.
During the arrest, officers found a pair of silver handcuffs in Sablan’s back pocket and that he was wanted for burglary in Fort Worth. A search of the vehicle turned up a black plastic BB gun, the “help me” sign, a switchblade knife and black handcuffs.
The affidavit said Sablan was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in 1979, robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary in 1985, and possession of a controlled substance in 2016.
The girl was placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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