CALIFORNIA – A California teen credits a postal worker for rescuing her from sex trafficking, a world in which she claims she was trapped in.

Ivan Crisostomo, a South Sacramento postal carrier, found 16-year-old Crystal Allen after he heard “desperate crying” from behind a tree, the New York Post reported. Crisostomo, a father of four, told Fox 40 that his instincts kicked in when he saw the young girl.

“She started to point to her arm, saying, ‘They were putting things in me. They were putting things in me. They are coming to get me,'” Crisostomo told the news station.

Allen said she had allegedly escaped from her captors by jumping out of a car before Crisostomo found her, the Independent reported. She grabbed a cellphone from one of her captors on her way out, she said.

“Don’t worry, nobody’s going to take you, I’m here for you,” Mr Crisostomo said to comfort the teenager.

The two used the phone to call the girl’s mother, Stacy Ohman, as well as officials from the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, the New York Post reported. Crisostomo stayed with the 16-year-old until police arrived to take her to the hospital, according to the news website. She’s now home with her family.

In California alone, 1,305 human trafficking cases were reported in 2017, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Out of those cases, 1,009 were sex trafficking cases; 167 were labor trafficking; 66 weren’t specified; and 63 were sex and labor.

Allen told Fox 40 she was drugged, tortured and abused for three months. Her family didn’t think they would ever see her again, until the postal worker found her, according to the news station.

“I just cried all the time and prayed that I’d get to see my mom again,” Allen said to Fox 40.

The two were reunited on Thursday, where Allen thanked Crisostomo for helping her. The postal worker said he considers helping people part of his everyday duties – as a mailman, and as a human being, he told Fox 40.

“Ivan himself is a hero for saving me,” the teen told The Independent. “Even if he doesn’t think it.”

Main image via Youtube screengrab.