By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
A man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in Southern California when a passerby saw her hold up a “Help Me!” sign in a parked car.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, on Friday, 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.
Stonix News reports that the girl was rescued July 9 in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, after a passerby called 911 to report seeing her hold up the piece of paper with the handwritten desperate plea for help.
According to prosecutors, Sablan, who has been in federal custody since July 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping.
Recall that in July, Sablan was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Sablan will face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life.
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