ATLANTA – An illegal immigrant is charged with kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and transporting her from Texas to Georgia for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual activity.
Andres Castaneda-Guzman, 24, was charged with taking the girl against her will from Texas to Stockbridge, Georgia and allegedly forcing her to have sexual intercourse, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor is stunning,” U. S. Attorney Byung J. Pak said in a statement. “We are fully engaged in combating child exploitation and will prosecute anyone who believes they can pursue this vile practice.”
Castaneda-Guzman, who lives in the U.S. illegally, lived in Jonesboro, Georgia until August 2017 before moving to Terrell, Texas.
In Terrell, Texas on Sept. 3, Castaneda-Guzman allegedly persuaded the minor to get into his vehicle, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. That’s when he drove them to Georgia where he eventually took her to a hotel in Stockbridge and allegedly forced her to have sex with him.
The girl was recovered after the Castaneda-Guzman’s former in-laws notified him that Clayton County officers were looking for the girl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Child exploitation in any form is dreadful, but the kidnapping a child for sexual purposes is an atrocity of the worst kind,” ICE HSI Atlanta Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory Wiest said in a statement.
Castaneda-Guzman was indicted on Nov. 14, 2017. The case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.
