Man charged with rape of 7-year-old

The trial of a Huntington Beach man accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled 7-year-old girl is underway.

Daniel Vlas Flores, 30, is charged with a felony count each for kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, sexual penetration, sexual intercourse and sodomy of a child 10 years old or younger, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. He faces life in state prison if convicted.

The opening statement for Flores began Thursday morning at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

The girl was playing with her 8-year-old neighbor and a babysitter on Aug. 19, 2009 in the 7800 block of Sycamore Avenue, when Flores walked up to the children while the babysitter wasn’t looking, prosecutors said.

Flores told the girls he needed to move furniture in his apartment and wanted the 7-year-old to help him, prosecutors said.

Though the girl told him she didn’t want to go, Flores is accused of pulling her by the hand and walking her to his nearby apartment.

He allegedly raped, sodomized and digitally penetrated the girl inside his apartment, according to prosecutors.

Concerned her friend hadn’t returned, the girl’s 8-year-old neighbor walked up to Flores’ apartment and was able to unlatch a sliding door and slightly open it.

The girl escaped and told her mother about the sexual assault, prosecutors said. Flores was arrested that day by the Huntington Beach Police Department.

He is further linked to the crime through DNA evidence, prosecutors said.

mona.shadia@latimes.com

Twitter: @MonaShadia