SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A man who attempted to kidnap two young girls in June 2024 was sentenced today to 10 years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Rene Arturo Lujan pleaded guilty earlier this year to five felony counts, including attempted kidnapping. While the victims' parents asked the judge for the maximum sentence of 12 years, Lujan received a 10-year sentence.
During the hearing, prosecutors revealed disturbing details about Lujan's actions leading up to the crimes. In the days before the attempted kidnappings, they say, Lujan was watching child pornography and searching for words like "kidnap" and "murder."
The first attempted kidnapping happened when Lujan picked a 6-year-old girl off the ground as she walked with her mother and sibling.
Just two days later, he targeted a second girl at the Mission Valley mall. ABC 10News was on the scene the day Lujan tried to kidnap the girl at the mall. An employee from a nearby bounce house intervened, causing Lujan to flee. He was caught just a few hours later along the 94 Freeway with the help of license plate readers.
Before the judge handed down the sentence, the parents of the girl targeted at the mall delivered emotional testimony. They described how Lujan's actions changed their family's life forever, noting that their daughter and her older sister have had to attend therapy and still struggle with the trauma.
"Now, at 7 years old, she still carries fear of strangers, fear of leaving home, fear of crowds, anxiety-driven emotional outbursts, and lingering fear that the bad man will come back," the mother said.
"What was this sick mind going to do to a 5-year-old girl that he kidnapped from a public place? How was that going to end?" the father said.
Lujan sat in court, listening to the parents, though the judge ordered his face blurred. He did not speak during the hearing.
Lujan's father addressed the court, sharing that his son struggles with mental health problems and revealing that Lujan was abused when he was 5 years old.
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