East Bay authorities are investigating a human trafficking case involving a 17-year-old girl from Honduras.
It ended in early October after the arrest of two people in a San Leandro home. Police said the teen was smuggled into the U.S., sexually assaulted and held up in a shed in a backyard.
Court documents say 41-year-old Juan Aguilar was in Honduras when he threatened the girl at gunpoint, telling her if she reported the crime, he would kill her grandmother.
The alleged threat then turned into multiple sexual assaults and a kidnapping.
Police say she was sold in Honduras to a human trafficker and later reunited with Aguilar at his San Leandro home where he lived with 39-year-old Margaret Wilson -- police are calling her his wife.
“I haven’t had time to process the information. It's crazy, it's disturbing, very disturbing,” said Daryl Gerber of San Leandro.
The case has veteran police officers shaking their heads, saying it has been tough to investigate.
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In fact, the case led them to San Francisco where they say Aguilar's wife groomed the 17-year-old to be a prostitute on the street.
“I have daughters … I think it’s creepy, very creepy,” said Cruz Madero of San Leandro. “I think something like that don’t happen around this neighborhood.”
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Police said the girl confided in Aguilar’s niece, telling her she was a kidnap victim and was being assaulted.
The two women went to San Francisco to report the crime.
