Man sentenced to life in prison for sexual assault of 7-year-old Huntington Beach girl

The following information was released by the Orange County District Attorney.

A man was sentenced today to 65 years to life in state prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 7-year-old developmentally disabled girl. Daniel Vlas Flores, 30, Huntington Beach, was found guilty by a jury April 27, 2012, of one felony count each of sexual intercourse with a child 10 years old or younger, sodomy of a child 10 years old or younger, kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, and sexual penetration of a child 10 years old or younger.

On Aug. 19, 2009, 7-year-old Jane Doe was playing with an 8-year-old neighbor in a Huntington Beach apartment complex yard on the 7800 Block of Sycamore Avenue. Flores walked over to the children, told them that he needed someone to help him move furniture in his apartment, and asked Jane Doe to help him.

Flores pulled Jane Doe by the hand and ran with her to his nearby apartment while she repeatedly told him she did not want to go. He took her inside his apartment and sexually assaulted Jane Doe by raping, sodomizing, and digitally penetrating the victim.

Jane Doe’s 8-year-old friend became concerned when the victim didn’t return and went to look for her. The friend went to the apartment and was able to unlatch a sliding door and open it slightly. With the door open, Jane Doe was able to run out of the room and escape.

The victim told her mother about the sexual assault and the Huntington Beach Police Department arrested Flores that day. The defendant was further linked to the crime through DNA evidence.

During the sentencing today, the victim’s father said that Jane Doe is still in therapy and recovering, and their entire family is traumatized because of Flores. He explained that their family has moved out of the state to get away from the place where Jane Doe was victimized.

The Honorable Lance Jensen, who sentenced Flores to the maximum possible sentence and referred to the defendant’s assault against Jane Doe as “an atrocity,” said that Jane Doe’s 8-year-old friend is a “true hero.”

Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.