A California woman who was 15 when she disappeared from her 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, according to the Associated Press.
Police have arrested Isidro Garcia, 41, of Bell Gardens, who was living with the family and dating the teens mom, on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment, according to a statement from the Santa Ana Police Department, the AP reported.
The mother suspected that he was sexually abusing her daughter, police said and in June of 2004, Garcia assaulted the mother, drugged the girl and then fled with her to a house in Compton, locking her in a garage, according to the AP.
Garcia provided the girl with false identification and used physical and emotional abuse to prevent her from fleeing, police said, the AP reported.
Garcia repeatedly told the victim that her family had stopped searching for her and that they would be deported if she tried to leave, the statement said, according to the AP. They also moved frequently to avoid being found, police said.
Police say Garcia forced her into marriage in 2007 and they had a child in 2012, the AP reported. 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 told her story to officers Tuesday, police said, according to the AP. The case has been presented to the Orange County district attorney's office for consideration.
Garcia's arrest comes just over a year after kidnapping and rape victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, three women who'd gone missing separately about a decade earlier while in their teens or early 20s, were rescued from a house in Cleveland, the AP reported.
