Ivan Crisostomo was delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service when he heard strange noises coming from the front yard of one of the homes on his route. Someone was hiding behind a tree and was crying in fear.

Ivan is a father of four himself, and he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t do something to help. He cautiously approached the teen behind the tree, but she was afraid and didn’t want to talk.

The girl behind the tree was 16-year-old Crystal Allen, who had just moments before jumped out of a moving car to escape a human sex trafficking ring.

Before taking the leap of faith, she had grabbed one of her captors’ cell phones, but she was so paralyzed with fear that she hadn’t managed to use it yet to call for help.

After convincing her that she was finally safe, Ivan convinced her to call her mom, Stacy Ohman. “Until she handed the phone to Ivan and we spoke with him, we had no idea what was going on,” says Stacy.

Ivan then called the police and stayed with Crystal until they arrived, reassuring her that if her captors came back for her, they’d have to go through him first to get to her.

Crystal had disappeared months before after an alleged “friend” had lured her to Sacramento. She had been enduring unspeakable horrors for the last three months, but had hoped she would be reunited with her mother.

Thanks to Ivan, that wish came true. After a few weeks of healing and letting the terror subside, she reunited with Ivan to thank him for everything that he did.

“He stepped up where a lot of people would have just kept driving down the road,” said Deputy David Cuneo of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. “He made a huge positive impact in this young girl’s life.”

What a heartwarming story! Thank goodness Ivan was at the right time at the right place and was willing to step up and help Crystal. Be sure to share this heroic story with your family and friends. What an inspiration!