13-year-old girl scribbled ‘Help me!’ Now her kidnapper has a 35-year prison term

A Texas man was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for kidnapping a 13-year-old girl in San Antonio, driving her to California, threatening her with a firearm and sexually assaulting her before he was arrested in Long Beach, according to authorities.

Her rescue from her captor, now 63, took place July 9, 2023, outside a laundromat on East 10th Street in Long Beach.

The girl scrawled the words “Help Me!” in red pen on a ripped piece of paper as she sat in a silver Nissan Sentra, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Someone passing by saw the plea for help and called police, officials said. When officers arrived, she mouthed the word “help” and they removed her from the car.

Steven Robert Sablan, of Cleburne, Texas, pleaded guilty in January 2024 to kidnapping. He has been in federal custody since the incident, authorities said. He also was 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 U.S. Atty. Joseph T. McNally in a news release. “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 said that he abducted the victim — who told him that she was 13 years old — in San Antonio and drove her to Long Beach, using a firearm to keep her under control, according to the release.

The girl was sexually assaulted during the journey to California.

“[Sablan] violently abducted a child and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while driving her thousands of miles from her home,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “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.”