A transient who was convicted of kidnapping a six-year-old girl from a bus was sentenced on Jan. 27 to five years in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Bork sentenced James John Thomas, 60, who pleaded no contest to one count of kidnapping with an allegation that the victim was under 14.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on Feb. 21, during which Thomas kidnapped a six-year-old girl from a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus.  The child was in the company of her family, who was also homeless and rode buses at night for shelter.  The girl was recovered within hours when a bus driver spotted her on another bus and called authorities.