Kidnapped woman was raped after she talked suspect into letting her go, CA officials say

A 26-year-old man is going to prison after being sentenced for raping a woman he kidnapped from her job, California officials said.

In January 2024, Efrain Jose Obando, of San Francisco, drove to the workplace of a woman and forced her into the car, according to a Feb. 10 news release by the Napa County District Attorney’s Office.

Then Obando took the woman to a public storage facility and tried to rape her, officials said.

She was eventually able to convince him that she needed to go back to work in Napa, and he agreed to drive her, prosecutors said.

On the way, he stopped in Vallejo, about a 20-mile drive south of Napa, and sexually assaulted her before letting her go, officials said.

Officials didn’t specify how Obando knew the woman but said he was in a position of trust.

Obando pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison on felony charges of kidnapping, forcible oral copulation and forcible rape, officials said.

He is also ordered to stay away from the woman and her daughter for 10 years, must register as a sex offender, and will have to pay restitution to his victim and court fines, officials said.

“No one should endure what the survivor went through, and I commend her bravery for coming forward,” Deputy District Attorney Kristen Orlando said in the release.

Napa is about a 50-mile drive northeast of San Francisco.

This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Kidnapped woman was raped after she talked suspect into letting her go, CA officials say."