Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
A child rapist from Texas is likely to serve the remainder of his life behind bars after a brave 13-year-old girl outsmarted him while sat abducted in the back of his car.
Steven Robert Sablan, of Cleburne, a city roughly a 35-minute drive from Fort Worth, kidnapped the schoolgirl at gunpoint in San Antonio on July 6, 2023, before driving her in his gray Nissan Sentra across two states until he reached Long Beach, in California.
“Mr. Sablan took this young girl from the safety of her Texas home and repeatedly sexually assaulted her at gunpoint throughout a lengthy drive of terror to California,” explained the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, Akil Davis.
The then 61-year-old confined the young girl and repeatedly abused her over the course of four days before she was finally freed following her bravery outside of a laundromat in Los Angeles.
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Shortly before 10.30am, on July 9, 2023, officers were called to the laundromat where they made contact with the 'visibly emotional and distressed' teen. Upon investigation, they discovered they were tipped off from a couple of good samaritans from a parking lot.
They noticed a sign which was being held up in the window of the car with the words 'Help Me!' written on it.
On Friday, 63-year-old Sablan was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,158 in restitution.
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“The 35-year sentence imposed ensures this defendant will not have the opportunity to victimize children,” said acting US Attorney Joseph T. McNally.
"There is nothing as important as protecting our young people. I commend our federal and local law enforcement partners for their efforts to secure justice here.”
Sablan, who had no relation or legal custody to the girl, pleaded guilty in January 2024 to one count of kidnapping, having been in federal custody since his arrest in July 2023.
Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish added: "This sentencing announcement represents a collaborative commitment to holding individuals accountable for victimizing and inflicting trauma upon our children.
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"I am deeply grateful to our officers and federal law enforcement partners from the FBI and DOJ for their tireless efforts on this case.”
While prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum: "[Sablan] violently abducted a child and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while driving her thousands of miles from her home.
“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."
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UNILAD has contacted both the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and Long Beach Police Department for a copy of Sablan's mugshot.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org
Topics: Court, Crime, Los Angeles, Texas, California
Joe Yates