A postman who managed to save a 16-year-old girl from a three-month-long sex trafficking ordeal has been publicly thanked by the girl that he saved.
Crystal Allen spoke to journalists about her kidnapping, during which she was drugged and abused. She also spoke of her gratitude and thanks to mailman Ivan Crisostomo, who helped to save her from her captors.
Crystal ran away from a group home in Placerville, California, but was left in the hands of a pimp in Sacramento - also in California - by a so-called 'friend', according to her mother.
Allen said: "They made it impossible. They had guard dogs and people that would watch us all the time and not let us leave. I was tied to chairs.
"I just cried all the time and prayed that I'd get to see my mom again."
She was forced to endure a long period of abuse, beatings and rape before she seized upon an opportunity to escape, grabbed a captor's phone and made a run for it.
Jumping out of her abductor's car, she made for freedom.
Luckily for Allen, Crisostomo was finishing up his mail route not far away.
He told Fox40: "I hear this crying, this desperate crying, I saw her hiding behind this kind of bush, kind of tree.
"She started to point to her arm, saying, 'They were putting things in me. They were putting things in me. They are coming to get me.'"
Crisostomo took her into his mail truck and let her stay there until she was safe. He also allowed her to use his phone to call her mother.
The father of four said that he immediately knew that she was trying to get away from something horrific, so he took her into his mail truck and let her stay there until she was safe. He also allowed her to use his phone to call her mother.
Police think that he may have prevented further abuse from being committed upon her person by staying with her until the police arrived.
Police Deputy David Duneo said: "What Ivan did was wonderful. He stepped up where a lot of people would've just continued driving down the road, and he made a huge positive impact on this young girl's life."
Despite Crisostomo's excellent work, there have been no arrests or suspects in the case. Crystal is currently undergoing significant amounts of therapy and living in a group home again.
Featured Image Credit: Fox40Topics: US News, crime, Drugs, california