A Gardner man convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl was sentenced on Wednesday to serve several years of probation.

Both Troy Periman and Sabrina Huddleston were arrested in June 2016 after the two were accused of the abuse.

In March Periman pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated endangering a child. Huddleston pleaded no contest to the same two charges.

Troy Periman

On Wednesday Periman appeared in Douglas County District Court, where he acknowledged the seriousness of the crimes and apologized for the pain he had caused. Afterward Judge Sally Pokorny sentenced him to serve three years on probation, the same sentence Huddleston received.

Explaining why she opted for probation instead of prison, Pokorny noted the report of one doctor who found Periman was neither a continued danger to society nor a sexual predator. In addition, she said Periman otherwise had a clean criminal record and took full responsibility for his actions.

Prosecutor Mark Simpson said his recommendation for probation did not reflect on the quality of the state’s case, but rather that the victim did not wish to proceed to a criminal trial.

In addition to probation, Periman will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years, Pokorny said. If he violates the terms of his probation, Periman will have to serve 38 months in prison.

Sabrina Huddleston

The entire incident stemmed from Huddleston’s 18th birthday on March 28, 2015. That evening she and the victim went to Periman’s residence in a student housing apartment on Baker University’s campus in Baldwin City, the Journal-World previously reported.

In the residence Periman began kissing Huddleston, then the victim, according to arrest affidavits filed in District Court. The three then had sexual relations, though the victim later told police she felt pressured to do so.

The next month the victim’s mother called police and an investigation was launched.

Periman told police he felt “misled” with the sexual encounter, the affidavits in the case say; however, Huddleston told police Periman was aware that the victim was uncomfortable.

Periman’s attorney, Sarah Swain, told Pokorny her client was in the process of going back to school at the University of Missouri in Kansas City to finish a business degree.