A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in Southern California when passers-by saw him holding a “Help Me!” get into a parked car.
A statement Friday from the US Attorney’s Office for 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 a piece of paper with a handwritten desperate plea for help.
The thirteen-year-old girl saved herself by putting “Help Me!” look out the car window for passers-by to see. AP
Sablan, who has been in federal custody since July 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, prosecutors said.
His attorney, Deputy Federal Public Defender Nadine Hettle, declined to comment Saturday.
In July, Sablan was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and transporting a minor with the 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 the street in San Antonio on July 6 when Sablan drove up, 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 is set for Oct. 25. Sablan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
