SoCal Woman Found 10 Years After Kidnapped As Teen Sex Slave; Suspect Arrested
SANTA ANA (CBS / AP) -- A woman who was 15 when she disappeared from her California home a decade ago has contacted police and told them she was kidnapped by a man who sexually assaulted her, forced her into marriage and fathered a child with her, authorities said Wednesday.
Police have arrested Isidro Garcia, 41, of Bell Gardens, on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment, according to a statement from the Santa Ana Police Department.
In 2004, when the victim was 15, Garcia was dating her mother and lived with the family, authorities said. The mother suspected that he was sexually abusing her daughter, police said.
In June 2004, Garcia assaulted the mother, drugged the girl and then fled with her to a house in Compton, locking her in a garage, the statement said.
Garcia forced her into marriage in 2007, and they had a child in 2012, police said. Garcia secured two jobs for them on a night cleaning crew so he could keep watch over her, authorities said.
The woman, now 25, came forward to police after finding her sister on Facebook, and she told her story to officers Tuesday, police said.
It wasn't clear if Garcia, who has not been formally charged, had an attorney. The case has been presented to the Orange County district attorney's office for consideration.
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The case draws comparisons to other high-profile kidnappings, including the Jaycee Dugard case. Dugard was 11 when Phillip and Nancy Garrido kidnapped her near her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991, then held her captive in the backyard of their home near Antioch for 18 years.
Earlier this year, Raul Ochoa of Richmond was convicted for holding a relative as a sex slave over a 15 year span, between 1998 and 2012.
Last year, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued from a house in Cleveland after they were held in captivity for a decade. Their captor, Ariel Castro, killed himself after he received a sentence to life in prison plus 1,000 years.
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