Texas Man Admits to Kidnapping Teen Rescued in Southern California after ‘Help Me!’ Sign
The 13-year-old girl was rescued after a passerby noticed her holding a “Help Me!” sign.
A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl, who was rescued in Southern California after a passerby noticed her holding a “Help Me!” sign in a parked car.
According to a statement released Friday by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, admitted in a plea agreement to sexually assaulting 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 up a piece of paper with a handwritten plea for help.
Sablan Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping Charge
Sablan, who has been held in federal custody since July 2023, has pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, according to prosecutors.
His lawyer, Nadine Hettle, a Deputy Federal Public Defender, declined to comment on Saturday.
A federal grand jury indicted Sablan in July on charges of kidnapping and transporting a minor with the intent to commit criminal sexual activity.
According to an FBI affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, the girl was walking down a street in San Antonio on July 6 when Sablan pulled up, raised a black handgun, and told her, “If you do not get in the car with me, I am going to hurt you.”
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for October 25. Sablan faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life.
Read more: Silver Alert: Norwalk Teen Girl, 16, Reported Missing
