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SANTA ANA, Calif. » A Southern California man charged with raping and kidnapping a 15-year-old girl and holding her for a decade is due in court on Friday.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled in Orange County Superior Court to determine whether Isidro Garcia, 41, should stand trial on charges of sexual abuse and kidnapping. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors contend Garcia drugged and abducted the teenage daughter of his girlfriend from Santa Ana, California in 2004 and whisked her away to a neighboring county, telling her she would be deported if she contacted authorities. Authorities say Garcia made her marry him several years later and fathered a daughter with her.
Authorities have not released the victim’s name.
The case came to light last year when the girl, now a grown woman, went to a police station to report a domestic violence incident and was connected to a missing persons report filed by her mother in 2004.
Garcia’s lawyer has said the allegations were lies and were fabricated because the couple was separating. Neighbors were shocked to learn of the case and said the pair, who lived in a Los Angeles suburb, seemed like a loving couple.
Authorities contend that Garcia initially locked up the girl, but she later got a job and had her own car. Prosecutors say how Garcia treated his wife in recent years is irrelevant to the case because he is charged with crimes that date back to when she was a child.
