A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in Southern California when a passerby saw her holding a “Help me!” sign. sign on a parked car.
A statement Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, admitted in a plea agreement that he sexually assaulted the victim while driving her from Texas to California. .
The girl was rescued on July 9 in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, after a passerby called 911 to report seeing her holding the piece of paper with the desperate handwritten plea for help.
The thirteen-year-old girl was saved by saying “Help me!” she notices on her car window for a passerby to see. AP
Sablan, who has been in federal custody since July 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, prosecutors said.
His attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Nadine Hettle, declined to comment Saturday.
In July, Sablan was indicted by a federal grand jury for kidnapping and transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The girl was rescued near a laundromat in Long Beach in July 2023. KNBC
An FBI agent wrote in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint that the girl was walking down a San Antonio street on July 6 when Sablan approached her, raised a black handgun and told her: “If you don’t get in the car with me, I’m going to hurt you.”
A sentencing hearing was set for October 25. Sablan will face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn