A North Texas man pleaded guilty to federal charges related to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a child who was rescued in California after successfully alerting a passerby to her situation with a handwritten note.
In custody since July 2023, Steven Robert Sablan of Cleburne admitted to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl in San Antonio and sexually assaulting her multiple times over the course of a two-day drive to Long Beach, California, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
According to the plea deal, Sablan owned up to one count of kidnapping. The 62-year-old defendant has a sentencing hearing slated for October 25, where he could be handed a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life behind bars.
Sablan reportedly testified to having spotted the young victim as she was walking down the street near a bus stop on July 6, 2023. He allegedly pulled out a gun and forced her into his vehicle.
The victim’s mother filed a missing person’s report with local police, but Sablan drove the teen to California, purportedly using the firearm to threaten and force her into compliance as he sexually assaulted her in the backseat of his gray Nissan Sentra.
On July 9, 2023, the teen wrote a note saying, “Help Me!” and held it up to the car window while Sablan was washing clothes at a laundromat. The note was seen by a passerby, who called 911. As a result, Long Beach police intercepted Sablan and rescued the girl. He had an outstanding warrant out of Fort Worth for burglary.
In Dallas, there was an 18.7% year-over-year rise in abduction cases in 2023, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard. Although 110 of the 178 incidents involved family or relatives, the overwhelming majority of victims were black and Hispanic women and girls.
The Dallas Police Department has been laboring under a significant staffing shortage, fielding only 3,000 officers even though a City analysis recommended around 4,000. This year, City officials have budgeted only $654 million for police operations, far less than the sums spent by other high-crime jurisdictions, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
