A 7-year-old Indianapolis girl was taken from her bedroom through a cut window screen Monday night, and her family found her hours later at the home of a 44-year-old man now facing kidnapping and child molesting charges. Isidro Gonzalez-Candido was booked into the Marion County Jail on preliminary charges that include kidnapping, criminal confinement, burglary, battery on a person under 14, and child molesting.
According to FOX 59, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was dispatched around 10:30 p.m. Monday to an address on Admiral Drive after receiving a report of a possible kidnapping. Per the incident report, the child's guardian discovered the girl's bedroom was empty, with the window open and the screen cut. The girl had reportedly gone into her room around 10 p.m. after finishing her homework.
Court documents obtained by the station indicate the child later told police that Gonzalez-Candido pulled her out of the window, put her into a vehicle, and transported her to his home. Family members eventually located her there. Per her statement to investigators, she said Gonzalez-Candido touched her inappropriately once inside the house.
Suspect's Account Versus the Child's Statement
Gonzalez-Candido reportedly admitted to taking the child from her home, according to the same court filings, but he denied the molestation allegations. He also claimed the child had begged him to take her with him, per the report. Police noted that the girl was previously known to the suspect, though the exact nature of that relationship has not been detailed in the records reviewed so far.
Preliminary filings reviewed by journalist Angela Ganote show Gonzalez-Candido faces five charges total, including three counts of child molesting. One of those counts is a Level 1 felony, the most severe non-capital felony tier in Indiana, carrying a statutory sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison.
What Indiana Law Says About the Charges
Under Indiana Code § 35-42-4-3, child molestation involving a victim under 14 is a Level 3 felony at baseline, but it elevates to a Level 1 felony if the accused is 21 or older or force was used, according to the law firm Banks & Brower. Separately, non-penetrative molestation involving fondling or touching with intent to satisfy sexual desires is charged as a Level 4 felony, punishable by 2 to 12 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, per the same source.
Indiana's kidnapping statute, Code § 35-42-3-2, defines the offense as non-consensual confinement or forcible removal, with severity scaling from a Level 6 felony up to a Level 2 felony depending on factors like bodily injury or the victim's age, according to the Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission. Courts in the state distinguish simple confinement from kidnapping based on whether the removal was forcible or met specific statutory aggravators, the commission's research notes.
No Prior Violent Record, but a Federal Detainer Now in Place
Before this arrest, Gonzalez-Candido had no violent criminal record in Indiana. His only recorded local offense was a misdemeanor traffic violation in June 2026 for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, during which he told police he had no driver's license, only Mexican identification, and was driving a vehicle registered to an LLC, per Ganote's reporting. Court records now show ICE has placed a federal detainer on him.
That detainer places Gonzalez-Candido's case inside a broader statewide framework. Under House Enrolled Act 1393, passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2025, local law enforcement agencies statewide must notify federal immigration authorities whenever an undocumented person is taken into custody, according to a report shared by Seymour Community Awareness.
The Marion County Adult Detention Center, where Gonzalez-Candido is being held, adjusted its own detention policy in January 2026 due to overcrowding, capping ICE detainee holds at 48 hours unless federal authorities transfer the individual, per WFYI. The facility still complies with state anti-sanctuary laws requiring it to honor federal detainers, and it surpassed its 2,400-inmate capacity earlier this year, the station reported.
Financially, these holds are significant for the county. Public records analyzed by The Indiana Lawyer showed the Marion County Jail held 1,057 immigrants for federal authorities in 2025 under an arrangement where the federal government pays the county $75 per day per detainee, with those payments deposited directly into the county's general fund.
An East-Side Case That Echoes a Recent Sentencing
This is not the first residential abduction case to draw scrutiny on Indianapolis' east side this year. Earlier this year, an east-side kidnapping case resulted in a 23-year sentence, after a man abducted his ex-girlfriend in an incident that triggered a statewide Silver Alert. Hoodline's earlier coverage noted that case took place on Penobscot Drive.
Gonzalez-Candido's initial hearing is scheduled for September 8, 2026. The Marion County Prosecutor's Office has not yet filed formal charges beyond the preliminary counts reported so far, and the precise nature of the relationship between the suspect and the child remains unclarified in the records reviewed to date.
