Man Charged With Unlawful Restraint Of Teen Girl
TEXARKANA, Texas–An 18-year-old New Boston, Texas, man has been charged
with unlawful restraint for allegedly refusing to let a 16-year-old girl
out of his car last month.
Nathan Isayah Stephens was reportedly driving when police stopped him in
New Boston at around 7:45 p.m. Jan. 21 near the intersection of N. Bowie
and Lanier streets, according to a probable cause affidavit. A 16-year-old
girl who was “shaking and crying” ran to an officer and reportedly said she
had been taken by Stephens from the parking lot of a church in Simms,
Texas, to New Boston and that he had refused to stop and let her out.
The girl’s parents picked her up from the scene of the stop and told
officers they believed their daughter was at church. Witnesses allegedly
told officers that Stephens had refused to let the girl out of his car
after giving her and another girl a ride to the church but that she had
managed to get out with her friend’s help. After getting back in the car to
retrieve a bag she had left inside, the car allegedly drove away with the
girl inside.
The girl had allegedly asked to be let out of the car but Stephens
reportedly told her, “No,” and that he was taking her to meet someone.
A front seat passenger in the car was arrested on unrelated outstanding
warrants.
Stephens is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at
$20,000. He faces six months to two years in a state jail if convicted of
unlawful restraint of a minor under 17.