BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A 29-year-old Arvin man is facing multiple felony charges, including kidnapping to commit robbery/rape and aggravated sexual assault of a minor by force, after an 11-year-old Bakersfield girl was abducted and assaulted in early Sept.
Antonio Rafael Gomez Martinez was arrested Sept. 14 and booked into the Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
Bakersfield police say the girl's parents reported her missing Sept. 3 after she had been reported as a runaway. Detective Bijan Gharib said the abduction likely occurred that evening.
"Abduction happened sometime in the nighttime. It's still unclear exactly the time frame, but it was probably between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in that time frame. But the exact moment, we don't know for sure," Gharib said.
"BPD showed up and started to ask all of the information that they needed for the investigation. Units were circulating the area," Gharib said.
Investigators were still working to determine the exact location where Gomez Martinez picked up the victim.
"It's still a little bit unknown exactly where the exact location was that the suspect picked up the victim. It was around the area of MLK Park and Union, so somewhere around there," Gharib said.
Police say Gomez Martinez dropped the girl off in the same area the following day.
"She showed up back in the area of her residence after having been dropped off by the suspect and then walked in a few blocks home," Gharib said.
Surveillance footage helped investigators identify the suspect's vehicle, and Flock camera data proved critical to the investigation.
"The video showed the type of vehicle, the color, and the body style," Gharib said. "We started looking at the Flock camera data in the area at the time frame that she was released by the suspect. And the cameras captured the vehicle, but it also has the license plate. So, for instance, this vehicle was a white vehicle, and it had a distinctive rack on top. That was very key to the investigation," Gharib said.
Gharib said that if Flock cameras had not helped identify the vehicle, there was no guarantee police would have been able to identify Gomez Martinez as quickly as they did — and he would have been free to target other children in the community.
BPD officers with the Special Violent Criminal Apprehension Team located and arrested Gomez Martinez in Wasco.
"BPD officers with the Special Violent Criminal Apprehension Team were able to locate him in the city of Wasco, and then he was taken into custody without any incident," Gharib said.
Gomez Martinez is booked in the Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility without bail and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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