Culver City Sex Offender Sentenced After Assaulting Autistic Minor

CULVER CITY, CA – A Culver City man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old autistic girl was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years in state prison. Samuel Robert Duran, 36, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Duran pleaded no contest last month to three counts of forcible oral copulation with a victim over 14 years old.

The teen disappeared March 24, 2015 from her home in the 11200 block of Westminster Avenue in Mar Vista following an argument with her adoptive mother, and police had sought public help to find her. Duran sexually abused the teen over the course of the next three weeks, according to the District Attorney's Office.

She was eventually found and several people were detained by LAPD investigators while an investigation was conducted. The girl’s mother told NBC4 the break in the case came when her daughter was able to call her.

“She called, it was less than a minute phone call, saying, ‘Mommy help, mommy help,”’ the mother told Channel 4. “And I was shocked. ... I looked at the phone and there was a caller ID after it got disconnected, and it saved her life. She’s at home with me because of that.”

The woman, who adopted the girl and her 18-year-old sister eight years ago, said she is “angry” and “disgusted” at what happened to her daughter.

“I would like everyone crucified that lives in that house, that’s been in that house, because my daughter was there for 21 days, and don’t say that they didn’t know that she was there,” she told the station.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock