LONG BEACH, Cali. (DDN) – The Department of Justice has sentenced a Texas man for the kidnapping of a teenager at gunpoint, during which he transported her across state lines to Los Angeles County and subjected her to multiple sexual assaults.
A 13-year-old girl was involved.
A 63-year-old man, Steven Robert Sablan, has been handed a 35-year federal prison sentence by a judge on Friday, along with a restitution order of $1,158.
According to the charging documents, Sablan confronted the young girl while she was walking along the street in San Antonio, Texas on July 6.
He reportedly brandished a black handgun and instructed the victim to enter his vehicle, threatening harm if she refused. In a state of fear for her safety, she followed the directives, according to the DOJ.
Authorities announced Sablan inquired about the girl’s age, and she responded that she was 13.
At one moment, she brought up having a friend in Australia, and Sablan seemingly offered to take her on a cruise ship to see her friend, but she “needed to do something for him first.”
He subsequently restrained her and transported her to Long Beach, employing a firearm to intimidate and dominate her.
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“[Sablan] violently abducted a child and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while driving her thousands of miles from her home,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “And while [Sablan] spent days abusing her for his own pleasure, her parents agonized over their missing child, fearing the worst. The worst was not far from reality.”
On the morning of July 9, Sablan parked his Nissan Sentra in a car lot in Long Beach and headed to a laundromat with their clothes. As he remained inside, the girl frantically wrote a plea for assistance on a scrap of paper, striving to catch someone’s eye.
A compassionate individual noticed the message, recognized the girl, and promptly contacted emergency services, as reported by the Long Beach Police Department.
Reference: Man sentenced for raping, abducting teen from Texas to Los Angeles
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