A jury has convicted a 51-year-old man of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a child more than a decade ago.
On July 15, 2012, Francisco Javier Lopez, of Montebello, who was 38 at the time, kidnapped a 6-year-old girl in broad daylight while she was playing outside her home in the 1400 block of S. Townsend Street. He drove her to a nearby parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her before abandoning her near her home.
Santa Ana Police Detectives launched an extensive investigation and submitted DNA evidence from the scene to California’s statewide database. The results generated a historic lead, matching a female relative of Lopez. This was the first female familial DNA match in Orange County and only the second in California’s history, providing crucial evidence to solve the case.
In 2019, Santa Ana Police Detectives arrested Lopez, who was subsequently charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and sexual assault.
On September 16, 2025, Lopez was convicted of 11 counts, including:
• 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit a sex offense
• 1 felony count of oral copulation of a child under the age of 11
• 3 felony counts of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 11
• 1 felony count of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 11
• 5 felony counts of a forcible lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14
He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on October 9, 2025.
