Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping Teen Whose ‘Help Me!’ Sign Led to Southern California Rescue

In this undated photo released by the U.S Department of Justice is a sign used by a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas. Courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice via AP

LOS ANGELES—A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in Southern California when a passerby saw her hold up a “Help Me!” sign in a parked car.

A statement Jan. 19 from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, admitted in a plea agreement that he sexually assaulted the victim while driving her from Texas to California.