A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped in 2012. Her attacker is now in custody, police say

Seven years after a young girl was kidnapped and raped in Santa Ana, a Montebello man has been arrested in the case, authorities said.

Francisco Javier Lopez, 45, was charged with 12 felonies in connection with the July 15, 2012, attack on the 6-year-old girl.

Days after the assault, Santa Ana police released a sketch of the suspect. He was described as having a thin to medium build with short, spiked black hair and a thin mustache.

Police said the man approached the child while she was walking in the 1400 block of South Townsend Street, then forced her into his Honda Civic. He drove to a nearby parking lot, where he sexually assaulted the girl before returning to the location where he abducted her and released the girl, authorities said.

The charges against Lopez include one count of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 11 and five counts of a forcible, lewd and lascivious act with a child under 14, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Officials will reveal more information about what led to Lopez’s arrest at a news conference Friday.

Lopez is being held in the Theo Lacy jail complex in Orange with no bail and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 25, according to inmate records. If convicted of all charges, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.