A California man accused of kidnapping and raping a girl he later lived with for years was ordered Friday to stand trial.
An Orange County Superior Court judge made the decision Friday after hearing preliminary evidence against 41-year-old Isidro Garcia, who has pleaded not guilty.
Garcia allegedly drugged a then 15-year-old girl in 2004 and initially took her from her home in Santa Ana to a home in Compton, where he held her captive, according to authorities. Garcia was the boyfriend of the girl's mother at the time.
The girl arrived in the United States from Mexico in February 2004 to be with her mother and sister in Santa Ana, according to the Santa Ana Police Department's investigation. The abduction occurred in August of that year, according to police.
The suspect then convinced her that her family no longer wanted her and threatened her with deportation, according to prosecutors. She was later forced to marry Garcia, police said.
Authorities said Garcia fathered a daughter with her.
The two most recently lived in a Bell Gardens apartment, but police said they moved several times during the decade-long disappearance. The woman tried to escape twice, but was beaten after being caught, according to police.
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The case came to light last year when the 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 was dating the victim's mother and all three of them shared this Santa Ana apartment when garcia allegedly started sexually assaulting the victim when she was only 14 years old. Investigators say Garcia drugged the teenager, moved her to different locations and used fake documents to change both of their identities.
Garcia's lawyer has said the allegations were lies and were fabricated because the couple were separating.
He is scheduled to be arraigned May 5.
