‘Father figure’ faces at least six decades in prison after he’s convicted of raping girl

A man said to have been considered a “father figure” to a young girl has been convicted of sexually assaulting her in two counties.

Roberto Lopez raped the girl in Sacramento when she was 12 and in Yuba City when she was 13, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in announcing the jury verdict this week.

“Lopez was a family acquaintance and father figure to the victim,” prosecutors stated in a news release, noting that both times, he held the girl down and forced himself on her.

The second time, Lopez inflicted “painful physical trauma,” which prosecutors said lasted for days.

Lopez was convicted on two counts of committing a forcible lewd act upon a child under 14 and two counts of rape of a child under 14 by a perpetrator more than 10 years older than the victim.

He faces 65 years to life in prison at his Dec. 9 hearing, where an allegation that he has a prior strike conviction for possession of drugs for sale for the purposes of a criminal gang and additional aggravated circumstances will be determined.