Stepfather Arrested After Girl Rescued

A 39-year-old Anaheim man was taken into custody early Friday after a three-hour standoff that began when he threatened to molest his 11-year-old stepdaughter, and armed himself with a handgun when she resisted.

Kent Alexander Smith was booked into the Anaheim Temporary Detention Facility on $50,000 bail after the 3 a.m. arrest. He faces charges of rape and child molestation for assaulting the girl in the past, said Police Lt. Ted Labahn. Police said she told them that her stepfather had previously molested her.

The girl said Smith attempted to sexually assault her again Thursday night. When she resisted, he got his gun and threatened to kill her, himself and his two other stepchildren--ages 2 and 6--in the apartment, she said.

She then grabbed a portable phone, locked herself in the bathroom, screamed for help and called her mother, who works nights, Labahn said.

The mother, and a neighbor who heard the screams, both called police.

Officers arrived at the apartment in the 3400 block of West Delmonte Avenue at 11:49 p.m. and got the girl out through the second-story bathroom window. They then evacuated 10 nearby units, Labahn said.

Smith eventually complied with police and walked out of the apartment at 3 a.m. and was taken into custody. Police said they found a 9mm handgun in the apartment.

The children were not harmed and are with their mother, who police believe was ignorant of the alleged abuse, Labahn said.