Topeka ? After tearfully testifying that he was ashamed and embarrassed by his actions, the former director of the Kansas Water Office was sentenced Friday to more than 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman.

Alan LeDoux, 55, of Holton, clutched a Bible as he testified that he could not explain why he attacked the woman last May.

LeDoux pleaded guilty in March to charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated criminal sodomy and burglary. Prosecutors dropped a rape charge.

LeDoux said he’d spent thousands of dollars on therapy and tests to determine why he attacked the victim. He told the woman and his wife of his actions the day after the incident and sought medication, he said.

“This is a horrible thing, but I can’t tell you why I did it. And I don’t know why I did it,” LeDoux said.

LeDoux was related by marriage to the victim, who was in the courtroom.

The victim told District Judge Eric Rosen the incident destroyed her life, forcing her to move away from family, friends and colleagues.

“I grieve daily for my former life. My days are best described as survival,” she said. “I want my children to have the fun-loving mother they once had.”

Former Kansas Water Director Alan LeDoux breaks down in tears after speaking to the judge during his sentencing hearing at the Shawnee County Courthouse.

Before a packed courtroom, Rosen said he had received more than 80 letters testifying to LeDoux’s service to the state.

“No one will ever take away all you’ve done, your immeasurable contributions to the state and selfless, kind acts to people,” the judge said.

But, he added, “This was a planned, calculated, predatory, depraved, violent crime.”

LeDoux faces a total of 12 years and three months in prison and must serve 85 percent of that before being considered for release.

The victim testified during a hearing that LeDoux broke into her home while she was sleeping early May 23, 2002. She said LeDoux, wearing a ski mask, bound her arms, blindfolded her and forced her to perform a sex act at knifepoint.

LeDoux headed the state’s water policy agency under former Gov. Bill Graves from 1995 until his arrest last September.