photo by: Chris Conde/ Journal-World

Joseph C. Hess is pictured Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in Douglas County District Court during his sentencing for sex crimes

A man was sentenced on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court to 32 months in prison for repeatedly abusing a teenage girl.

Joseph C. Hess, 38, was originally charged in June of 2019 with three counts of criminal sodomy with a child, two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He accepted a plea deal and pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated sexual battery in December.

Judge Stacey Donovan sentenced Hess, who was represented by attorney Branden Smith, to 32 months for each count, to run concurrently.

At the sentencing, the victim told the court that Hess had violated her and her family’s trust and that even now he refuses to take responsibility for his actions.

“He thinks he is innocent. That’s crazy,” she said.

She said that she had blamed herself for years and that thinking of what happened still messed with her emotions. She said that after it happened she “became numb” and that she has just begun to start reconnecting with her emotions.

She said she hoped that Hess could change in the future but that would never happen so long as he kept lying to himself about what he did to her.

The victim’s parents also gave statements to the court. Her father said he noticed that his daughter became reclusive and distant in the years when the abuse occurred, and their relationship still hasn’t recovered.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, Hess began abusing the girl in 2014 when she was 14 and he was around 30. The girl told police that she saw Hess as a “mentor” and didn’t report the abuse sooner because she wanted to protect Hess’ family, according to a police affidavit.

The abuse was reported twice, once in 2015 by one of Hess’ family members and again in 2017 by the victim, but the victim said that on neither occasion was she ready to talk about what had happened to her, according to the affidavit.

When the girl did make a report to police about Hess, she messaged Hess on Instagram, and Hess replied that he was sorry she ever blamed herself, that he knew he was a bad person and that he hated himself for it, according to the affidavit.

She later recorded a telephone call with Hess in which he said that he had molested her and that it had been a bad time in his life, according to the affidavit.

The victim testified at a preliminary hearing in August of 2020 and she said that Hess abused her more than 50 times during a 14-month period.

While awaiting trial, Hess had his bond modified so that he could move from Lawrence to Sedalia, Missouri, to live with a family member; he has been monitored by a GPS ankle bracelet.

After sentencing, Hess was taken to the Douglas County Jail until he can be transferred to a state prison to serve his sentence.

Hess’ record has not appeared in the Kansas Sex Offenders Registry at the time of this report.