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A man was arrested today for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl with autism who had been missing for three weeks. Samuel Robert Duran, Jr., a 33-year-old Culver City man, was arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion of multiple counts of rape, NBC LA reports. He is being held on an $8 million bail.
The 15-year-old girl disappeared from the 11200 block of Westminster Avenue in Mar Vista on March 24 after going for a walk by the nearby Mar Vista Recreation Center, KTLA reports. The girl's mother said that her daughter has a form of autism and requires medication.
Police were able to find the girl by tracking Duran's cellphone after the girl used it to call her mother for help.
The police are still looking into how the girl met Duran, according to a release from the LAPD. Records show that Duran has previous convictions for manufacturing or possessing a dangerous weapon and for disturbing the peace.
Anyone with additional information should contact the Pacific Area Sexual Assault Unit at 310-482-6313.
