Richard Gonzalez

A Douglas County jury has convicted Richard Gonzalez of sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl at a rural Lawrence day care center in 2009.

Jurors deliberated for about four hours Friday before they reached a verdict just before 2 p.m. They found him guilty of aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He faces 25 years to life in prison on each count.

Prosecutors during the four-day trial accused Gonzalez, 68, of molesting the girl during nap time in summer 2009 at the day care center. The girl, who had started attending the day care earlier that summer, was eventually examined at a hospital, and investigators began looking into the case.

Defense attorneys had argued the girl has an overactive imagination and that investigators improperly interviewed the girl, which caused her to detail the allegations.