Kidnaping Suspect Faces Arraignment : Crime: Man accused of abducting a teen-ager from her Mexican village is held on suspicion of using her as a sex slave. L.A. residents offer support to the girl’s family.

A man accused of kidnaping a 14-year-old girl from Mexico and holding her as a sex slave until her brother searched Los Angeles and found her is scheduled to be arraigned today, sheriff’s deputies said.

On Sunday, Los Angeles residents touched by the girl’s harrowing story began calling her family with offers of money and help. “They’re calling out of concern, looking for ways to help the family,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Stoneman.

Deputies arrested Agustin Ramirez, 31, outside his brothers’ barbecue stand Friday in the Athens district of South-Central Los Angeles. They found the girl inside. Deputies say she had been repeatedly raped by her kidnaper and forced to work in the restaurant.

Ramirez is to be arraigned today in Inglewood Municipal Court. He is being held on $100,000 bail on suspicion of kidnaping, kidnaping for sex, sex crimes with a child and sodomy.

He never let the girl out of his sight, Deputy Irma Becerra said. The suspect reportedly told the girl she was his wife and threatened to kill her mother in Mexico if the girl tried to escape.

Sheriff’s officials say Ramirez abducted the girl at gunpoint Feb. 15 as she ran an errand for her mother in their hometown in the Mexican state of Puebla. The day before, he had fired a gun into the house after the mother refused to let him take the girl to the United States, deputies said.

The girl’s brother, Marcelino Benitez, 29, found his sister at Mom’s Bar-B-Q after a 10-day search he began with little money and few clues. Benitez’s mother called him at the Houston restaurant where he worked, setting off his search. Benitez said his mother had reported the kidnaping to Mexican police but she believed that they did not take it seriously.

On Sunday, employees at Mom’s Bar-B-Q refused to comment, saying they did not know Ramirez or his brothers who own the business.

The Lennox sheriff’s station is accepting the names and telephone numbers of people wishing to help the Benitez family.