Driver who raped Long Island teen sentenced

A driver for an illegal-immigrant smuggling ring was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Friday by a Brooklyn federal judge for raping a 17-year-old undocumented Salvadoran girl while taking her from Texas to her family on Long Island.

Juan Carlos Escobar Gonzalez, 31, raped the girl in the back of his van at a rest stop in New Jersey after dropping off the other passengers. He then took her to Brentwood, where she was united with her uncle and reported the attack to police.

Escobar Gonzalez is serving a 57-month sentence on an illegal immigrant-smuggling conviction in Texas. In Brooklyn, U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson said the 188-month rape sentence he was imposing would begin after the other is done.

"There is no safe haven for those who seek to exploit and prey upon innocent children," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in Brooklyn.