A Texas man pleads guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who sang a “Help Me!” sign to escape after kidnapping

A Texas man who kidnapped a 13-year-old at gunpoint, sexually assaulted her multiple times and took her to California has pleaded guilty to a federal kidnapping charge.

The youth, whose name has not been released, was rescued at the Easy Wash Laundromat in Long Beach on July 9 after a passerby saw her with a “Help Me!” register a car.

Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of kidnapping as part of a plea agreement.

He kidnapped the young girl on July 6 in San Antonio and sexually assaulted her during the 19-hour drive across the US to Long Beach.

Sablan will be sentenced on October 25 and faces a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Sablan will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison, under the terms of the plea deal.

“At the time of the crime, Sablan had no legal custody or family relationship with the victim,” the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said.

At the time of the incident, police said: 'Through their investigation, officers learned that the Good Samaritans were in a car park when they spotted the victim in a parked vehicle holding up a piece of paper with 'help me' written on it.

“The customers – regulars at Easy Wash Laundromat in Long Beach – recognized the note and immediately called 9-1-1.”

The girl was walking down a San Antonio street on July 6 when Sablan drove up, raised a black gun and told her, “If you don't get in the car with me, I'm going to hurt you,” an FBI agent said. wrote in a statement.

She had left home without telling her parents because she was visiting a school friend who had moved to Australia a year earlier.

At some point after getting into Sablan's car, the girl told him about her boyfriend and Sablan said he could take her on a cruise ship to go to Australia, but she would have to do something for him.

The suspect stopped the car and sexually assaulted the girl. She told her to stop, but was afraid she would get hurt if she didn't comply.

The youth, whose name has not been released, was rescued at the Easy Wash Laundromat in Long Beach on July 9 after a passerby saw her with a “Help Me!” register a car

Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of kidnapping as part of a plea deal

Sablan sexually assaulted the girl several more times during the drive from San Antonio via New Mexico and Arizona to California.

The girl's mother reported her missing to San Antonio authorities on July 7.

In Long Beach, the suspect parked at the laundromat and told the girl to change clothes. He then took her clothes and his own inside, giving the girl the opportunity to write “help me” on a note, the document said. .

When Long Beach police officers arrived, Sablan was standing outside the car and they saw the girl say the word “help,” the officer wrote.

During the arrest, officers found a pair of silver handcuffs in Sablan's back pocket and that he was wanted for burglary in Fort Worth.

A search of the vehicle turned up a black plastic BB gun, the “help me” sign, a switchblade knife and black handcuffs in a package labeled “Fetish Fantasy Series Designer Cuffs,” the document said.

Sablan was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in 1979, robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary in 1985 and possession of a controlled substance in 2016.

The girl was taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.