Girl Taken From Home, Raped; Suspect Arrested

A 23-year-old man suspected of sneaking into a home through an open window, kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 9-year-old girl and then bringing her home was arrested at gunpoint Monday after a citywide search, police said.

Police said the suspect, John Moses Otto of Garden Grove, had been a family friend and a lodger in the home who was asked to leave several weeks ago.

At 2:30 a.m. Monday, police said, the kidnapper removed a screen and climbed through a window left open on a hot night, carrying the sleeping girl to his car. She told police she awoke as he sped from her house.

Garden Grove Sgt. Mike Handfield said the unidentified girl told police the kidnapper parked at least twice and raped her, hitting her in the face and threatening to kill her.

After he carried her back through the same window an hour and a half later, her family heard her sobs and calls for help, police said.

“They woke up and ran outside just in time to see the suspect leaving,” Handfield said. The family told police they recognized him as Otto.

Police immediately began a citywide search for Otto. A group of undercover detectives located him later in the day, only to lose him as he raced away in his car.

“The suspect made eye contact and put the pedal to the metal,” Handfield said.

Two patrol cars rushing to help the detectives collided with one another, leaving the units “significantly damaged,” Handfield said.

Otto’s abandoned car was soon found in the parking lot of the Target store on Brookhurst Street, and police surrounded the nearby home of Otto’s mother in the 10000 block of Teal Avenue. With a police helicopter hovering overhead, Otto was arrested at gunpoint, Handfield said.

“We were relieved to take him in,” Handfield said. “He’s someone that we definitely want off the street.”

The girl, Handfield said, is “badly traumatized, and so is the family. Obviously, this is a scary thing to any parent. It’s very rare for someone to break into a home and kidnap a child.”

Confused and hurt, the victim found it hard to recall the number of times her attacker parked the car, much less landmarks or locations, Handfield said.

There is no indication that Otto, a stocking clerk, had ever molested the girl while they lived under the same roof for several months, Handfield said. He is not a registered sex offender, although he once was investigated locally for “misconduct toward children,” Handfield said.

He was held without bail on suspicion of kidnapping, rape, burglary and child molestation.