A Union Township man will spend 30 to 35½ years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to raping a 6-year-old girl inside a South Lebanon store restroom.

Robert DeWeese, 37, pleaded guilty to rape, kidnapping with a sexual motivation specification, gross sexual imposition and abduction in Warren County court, according to a press release from Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

The assault happened on Friday, February 6, at a Five Below store in South Lebanon, according to WLWT. The girl was shopping with her mother when she needed a change of clothes. Her mother brought her to a family restroom, had her lock the door, and showed her a "special knock," telling her not to open the door until she heard it.

DeWeese was eavesdropping with his ear pressed against the restroom door, the prosecutor's office said. He overheard the mother describe the knock. Once she left to retrieve clothes from the store, DeWeese replicated the knock, and the girl opened the door.

When the child realized it was not her mother, she tried to close the door. DeWeese forced his way inside and assaulted her.

The girl then used a technique called "The Lion's Roar" that she had learned in scouting, screaming "Stop!" as loud as she could. It startled DeWeese and he fled the store.

"This little girl showed quick thinking when she used 'The Lion's Roar' to stop this sexual assault," Fornshell said in the July 23 press release.

Warren County Sheriff's deputies tracked DeWeese to a relative's house nearby and arrested him. He was held at Warren County Jail on a $702,500 cash-only bond, according to FOX19.

DeWeese had been released from prison just three days before the February 6 assault. He had prior sex crime arrests in Clermont, Clinton, Franklin, Fairfield and Licking counties, the prosecutor's office said.

DeWeese received an indefinite sentence of 30 to 35½ years. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will determine his actual release date based on his conduct in prison, according to WLWT. He must register as a sex offender for life and pay restitution to the victim's family for medical expenses and counseling.

Fornshell defended the girl's mother against public criticism, saying the blame "belongs entirely with a serial sexual predator" and that the mother had taken precautions to protect her child.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office, which patrols Deerfield Township, investigated the case. Residents can report tips or suspicious activity to the sheriff's office non-emergency line at 513-695-1280.