The 51-year-old man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl who was walking to school in San Jose appeared in court Friday.
Marlo Porter, a convicted sex offender, sat in the courtroom with a public defender, at times seeming surprised at what she was telling him. He faces allegations of kidnapping, lewd acts on a child and making threats.
A police report alleges the girl stopped to get a drink at a 7-Eleven before walking to school on Wednesday. Police believe Porter drove up beside her and offered her drugs before grabbing her and pulling her into his car. The report said the victim screamed for help but nobody heard.
Porter allegedly then drove the pair to the parking lot of a Walgreens at South 17th and East Santa Clara streets, where they were parked for 10 minutes. The girl tried to get away, according to the report, but Porter pulled her back in the car, child-locked the doors and allegedly fondled her. Porter allegedly told her they should date and even gave her his phone number.
The report said Porter then drove the girl to her school and warned her not to tell anyone or bad things would happen. Hours later, police arrested Porter.
“SJPD would like to commend the bravery of the victim who did report this incident,” San Jose police Officer Tanya Hernandez said. “Thanks to her and thanks to the quick work of our officers, our detectives and our [Real Time Intelligence Center] analysts, we were able to quickly apprehend the suspect.”
The girl is said to be home safe, while her alleged attacker is potentially facing many years in prison.