Girl, 15, safe after falling under alleged predator’s spell

When a 15-year-old Menlo Park girl left home early last month after an argument with her parents over her cellphone use, authorities believed she wouldn’t venture far.

There were no immediate signs of foul play and police believed that the teen would eventually turn up in a community near her Bay Area home.

But days turned into weeks and concern for her safety grew.

Those fears, Los Angeles police detectives say, turned out to be warranted.

The runaway took the train to Union Station, where she befriended Kevin Escobar, a 20-year-old transient, said Los Angeles Police Det. Kurt Wachter, who oversees the LAPD’s sexual assault detail for the West Bureau.

Escobar took the girl to Venice Beach, where he plied her with drugs and alcohol while playing on her naivete and unfamiliarity with the area, authorities allege.

For three weeks, Escobar kept her in the beach area, at times taking shelter beneath lifeguard stands and pagodas and in public bathrooms.

Police said he raped and sexually assaulted the girl. When she tried to get away, he used threats, force and even a play for pity -- threatening to kill himself -- in an effort to keep her from going to authorities, police said.

“This guy is a classic predator and he was looking for a certain type,” Wachter said.

Wachter said he’s seen many cases over the years in which victims, particularly young people, are made to feel isolated and dependent on a captor.

Eventually, she realized “how bad things were,” Wachter said, and went to the Culver City Police Department. She was reunited with her family Jan. 30.

Los Angeles police detectives were contacted last Tuesday by Menlo Park police, and on Wednesday Escobar was arrested without incident and held on a parole violation; police said he was carrying a concealed weapon.

Escobar is being held on $175,000 bail. He is expected to be charged this week.

“Unfortunately, he found her,” Wachter said. “But I’m really glad she had the strength to come forward and disclose this.”

andrew.blankstein

@latimes.com