A man has been accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in a church parking lot.

Jossue Daniel Garcia-Lopez, 20, has been charged with sexual assault of a child under 14 years of age, a first-degree felony.

Jacinto City police said the 12-year-old girl left a Bible study class on Dec. 23. The teacher noticed she was gone, got worried and then spotted the girl walking back in from the parking lot as Garcia-Lopez was driving away, investigators said.

Detectives said the girl admitted to having sex with Garcia-Lopez in his car.

Garcia-Lopez told KPRC Local 2 Monday that the sex was consensual and that they were in a relationship. He said he knew the girl's age and that having sex with her was against the law.

"We were together and what happened is what happened," Garcia-Lopez said in Spanish.

Garcia-Lopez said he did not know that he had been charged with a crime until KPRC Local 2 spoke with him Monday afternoon. He was placed in police custody shortly before 6 p.m.