Moments before learning he would spend up to 15 years in prison, James Nee stared at his cuffed hands, keeping his head bowed as he listened to descriptions of the pain he inflicted.
In a letter read aloud in Lackawanna County Court on Wednesday, his 15-year-old victim said she "always wanted to be a teacher" but now she has trouble sleeping. Just 7 years old when he molested her, he turned her dream into a dirty role-playing game.
Now, she can't trust men and is seeing a therapist.
In another letter, her mother said Mr. Nee robbed her daughter of her childhood and ripped their family apart.
And, standing before Judge Vito P. Geroulo with Mr. Nee seated only a few feet away, her grandmother said Mr. Nee "took a beautiful part of life and made it dirty and disgusting," causing "scars that will never heal."
After they finished, Mr. Nee stood up to offer a plea for forgiveness as the victim's mother and grandmother grabbed handfuls of tissues to wipe away their tears. Then Judge Geroulo sentenced the 42-year-old Moosic man to 45 months to 15 years in state prison for indecent assault and child pornography.
Mr. Nee will also be required to register as a sexually violent predator for life.
"I hope you were listening closely ... (to) just how far someone's actions can reach into the lives of other people," Judge Geroulo told Mr. Nee before a sheriff's deputy escorted him from the courtroom. "They will never be the same."
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual abuse.
According to Scranton police, Mr. Nee enticed the girl through games such as playing teacher or through treats like ice cream to get her to touch his penis or so that he could touch or see her genitals. The bribes, as city police described his conduct, also included giving her permission to play computer games or offering her money for letting him touch her.
Mr. Nee also took pictures of the girl's genitals with a cellphone. The assaults happened while he baby-sat her.
Mr. Nee, who pleaded guilty in February, has been in prison before for a similar offense.
City police arrested him in 1994 for sexually assaulting a female minor, and he pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault, said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge, who prosecuted the latest case. His sentence on that charge was not available Tuesday.
He completed his sex offender registration requirements before he was arrested again for this offense, Miss McCambridge said.
"The world will be a better place when he is separated from babies," the victim's grandmother said in court.
Contact the writer: smcconnell@ timesshamrock.com, @smcconnellTT on Twitter