Colombian teen escapes bus driver 12 years after he allegedly kidnapped and changed her identity

A Colombian school bus driver was arrested on rape and kidnapping charges after a teenage girl he allegedly kidnapped more than a decade ago managed to escape, authorities said Thursday.

Carlos Humberto Grisales Higuita was arrested on charges of simple kidnapping, sexual abuse with a minor under 14 years of age, sexual acts with a minor under 14 years of age and pornography with a minor under 18 years of age, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office told reporters during a press conference.

Colombian prosecutors said that the girl was abducted when she was only seven years old in 2012 and was taken her to a house located in the center of the city of Medellín.

During the 12 years in which the child was missing, prosecutors say the accused moved her to different locations in Medellín and Bello, Antioquia and even changed her name.

For years, the defendant allegedly sexually abused her in front of a camera and manipulated her into believing that what was happening to her was normal, prosecutors say.

The suspect also allegedly changed the girl's name, kept her out of people’s sight, and out of school.

When the girl was 16 years old, she confronted Grisales, prompting him to lock her in a house, from which she escaped from in February, prosecutors said.

Grisales appeared in court last week and denied all charges, but the court ordered that he would remain in pre-trial detention without bail.

Sexual offenders of minors usually go unpunished in the South American country.

Colombia Reports, an online newspaper recently reported that according to a database of victims maintained by the Attorney General's Office, only 1,389 people were convicted of sexual violence against minors since 2018.

That number is less than 2% of the children examined by doctors for potential sexual violence during the same period.

According to Children Change Colombia, an international children’s charity, 200,000 minors are sexually abused each year in the country. A 2021 Violence Against Children Survey found that two in five young people in Colombia had experienced violence before the age of 18.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.