Federal Bureau of Investigation

Man Arrested on Rape Charge in Case of Missing Girl With Autism

A 33-year-old Culver City man has been arrested in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl with autism who had been missing for weeks but was found safe on Monday.

Samuel Robert Duran Jr. was booked into the Los Angeles County Jail on multiple counts of rape Tuesday, according to the LAPD and online jail booking records. His bail was set at $8 million.

Detectives were investigating the circumstances of how Duran and the victim met. Police found her at the suspect's Culver City house after tracing a call from the suspect's phone, said her mother.

"I'm angry," she said. "I'm disgusted ... But I'm happy that my daughter's back, that I have her, that I get to see her every night."

Police tracked down the suspect through his cellphone after the girl used the phone to call her mother two weeks ago, saying "Mommy, help. Mommy help," her mother said.

"I was stunned, shocked," she said. "I think I forgot to breathe for a moment. I looked at the phone and there was caller ID after it got disconnected.

"It saved her life. She's at home with me because of that."

NBC4 is not naming the victim or her mother due to the nature of the crime.

She disappeared March 24 after an argument over her medication with her mother who took her cellphone, Greenberg said. After a week, the FBI, the Missing and Exploited Children and the LAPD launched a search for the girl.

She was found safe Monday. The girl had been at the suspect's home in Culver City for 21 days, her mother said. Her daughter appears OK physically, but worries about her condition mentally.

"I don’t think she’s faced really what’s happened yet," she said.

Online Los Angeles Superior Court records show Duran has convictions for disturbing the peace and manufacturing or possessing a dangerous weapon.

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