An illegal immigrant from Mexico accepted a plea deal last Friday which will keep him behind bars for the next 25 years. Eduardo Sarabia, age 41, was arrested last May for kidnapping and raping two different women in a van he had outfitted for exactly that purpose. Investigators, who caught him in the act, called the van a "rape dungeon on wheels."
FOX 11 was the first to report on the crime, after a source said a woman escaped from the so-called "rape dungeon on wheels" in a remote area in the San Gabriel Mountains. It's believed the suspect would pick up his victims at the El Monte train station, according to the source...
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said the two incidents happened on May 12 and May 13. Two deputies said they caught him in the act Monday inside that white van, off of Highway 39 in the Angeles National Forest, north of Azusa. Investigators said Sarabia is a transient and an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
ABC7 has more on how he was caught in the act, almost by chance.
In the first case, authorities said Sarabia met a woman in the area of the El Monte Metrolink Station and struck up a conversation with her. He then offered her a ride and allegedly drove to the area where the assault occurred - along Highway 39 in the Angeles National Forest.
When sheriff's investigators went to the location the next day to patrol the location, they said they found the van and the suspect with a second victim. The woman was allegedly screaming for help when law enforcement arrived.
From the time he was arrested, authorities suspected there were more victims than the two women they knew about. Unfortunately, that was true. Three additional people eventually came forward, one adult woman and two minors, one of whom was his niece.
Sarabia, 41, pleaded no contest to charges of forcible rape, lewd acts with a minor under 14, kidnapping and forcible oral copulation. He was accused last year of luring two women into his van for camping trips in the San Gabriel Mountains, only to sexually assault them in the secluded forest along Highway 39, according to court records and a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department news release. Sarabia was arrested on the night of the second assault, the release said.
He also pleaded no contest to separate charges for sexual assault against two children that occurred, in one case, from 2010 to 2012 and, in the other, in 2021 and 2022. The victims came forward after Sarabia was arrested last year.
The transit van had no back windows and a cage inner door. He locked it from outside so the doors couldn't be opened from the inside. Once the women got in they were trapped.
Sarabia was facing up to 80 years if convicted and, given that he was caught in the act, he would have been convicted. So he accepted the plea deal instead. He won't have a chance of parole until he gets out when he's 66 or 67. This follow-up report from Fox 11 says that Trump mentioned this case at some point. That may be true but I wasn't able to find it.
NEW: Illegal Alien from Mexico arrested in California in June 2024 for operating a “Rape dungeon on wheels”, outfitted with a cage, condoms & kids toys, sentenced to 25 years.
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) June 14, 2025
Eduardo Sarabia raped women and children.
This is why ICE deportation raids matter. pic.twitter.com/t3IDnOQKfu
