Isidro Garcia, 41, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment, the Santa Ana Police Department police said.
Police described a decade during which the victim, abused mentally, physically and sexually by her captor, was moved at least four times and given multiple fake identities to hide her from family and authorities.
"Even with the opportunity to escape, after years of physical and mental abuse, the victim saw no way out of her situation and lived a life with Garcia under sustained physical and mental abuse," police said in a written statement.
Neighbours were stunned, describing them as a seemingly happy couple who doted on their young daughter and liked to host parties at their apartment in the working-class community of Bell Gardens, about 32 kilometres from where she originally disappeared.
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The now-25-year-old woman, whose identity is not being released, first contacted authorities Monday, the same day Garcia was first arrested. Police said she came forward to police after finding her sister on Facebook.
Santa Ana police Cpl Anthony Bertagna said his department's investigation concluded the following: The girl arrived from Mexico in February 2004 to join her mother and sister in Santa Ana, about 48 kilometres southeast of downtown Los Angeles. She had entered the United States illegally and spoke no English.