Kidnapper / rapist of 13-year-old Texas girl pleads guilty in federal court, awaits sentencing
(Steven Robert Sablan held the child at gunpoint, Image credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office)
On January 19, a Texas man pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl at gunpoint last year in San Antonio, admitting that he drove her to California, threatened her with a gun, and raped her multiple times before his arrest in Long Beach, California.
An FBI agent wrote in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint that the girl was walking down a 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 am going to hurt you.” ~ WBTV
In a plea deal arrangement, Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping. Sablan has been in federal custody since July 2023.
Background: On July 6, 2023, in San Antonio, Sablan abducted the victim, held her captive, and drove her in his gray Nissan Sentra to Long Beach, California. The victim told Sablan she was only 13 years old. During her ordeal, Sablan used a firearm to threaten and control the child.
Sablan confined his young victim until she was rescued on July 9, 2023, in Long Beach after a Good Samaritan called 911 after seeing her holding a “Help Me!” sign in the window of Sablan’s car.
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Sablan admitted in his plea agreement that during the Texas-to-California journey, he sexually assaulted the child. At the time of the crime, Sablan had no legal custody or familial relationship to his young victim.
U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha scheduled an October 25 sentencing hearing, at which time Sablan will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. In this writer’s opinion, either sentence would be too light.
The FBI and the Long Beach Police Department investigated this matter with the Cleburne (Texas) Police Department providing assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Norell of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.
The up side to this story includes the Good Samaritan from Long Beach who is being hailed as a hero after coming to the aid of the young kidnap victim. For more on that story, see the video below.
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(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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