A Cassopolis man who prosecutors said “visited a great evil” upon a local family will spend the next 20 years locked up in a Michigan penitentiary.

Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman sentenced 44-year-old Howard Henry Craig to a minimum of 20 years to a maximum of life in prison for a single count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct during the man’s hearing in Cass County Court Friday. Craig pleaded guilty to the charge during an appearance in court June 5.

The charge stems from a series of sexual assaults Craig committed against a teenager living in his home in Calvin Township from a period of 2000 to 2008.

The defendant admitted during his plea that he began abusing the teenager when she was 13 years old, though the judge said the victim indicated in a statement she gave investigators that the attacks began as early as when she was 11.

The abuse continued two to three times a week, up until she became an adult. As a result, she eventually became pregnant and had a child, Herman said.

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said that the Cassopolis man deserved every day of the 20-year prison term he had agreed to serve under the plea agreement he made with the prosecutor’s office. Fitz condemned the defendant not only for his sexual abuse, but for the methods he used to control his victim, which included threats to kill her if she ever came forward to the police.

“Instead of the things kids normally do, she said her job was try to protect her siblings from this man who was committing monstrous acts throughout this episode,” Fitz said.

The prosecutor added that Craig said he was under the influence of methamphetamine throughout much of this period of his life, though Fitz said this was no excuse for the man’s behavior. Fitz said that the only redeeming thing about this case is that the defendant said he is regretful for his actions.

“The bottom line is that the victim deserves her justice, and today is the day she gets it,” Fitz said.

Craig’s attorney, Robert Drake, simply asked the judge to follow the terms of his client’s plea deal, as the defendant requested that he keep his statements to a minimum. Craig himself declined to comment when asked to speak by the judge.

Herman agreed to the terms of the agreement, though he mentioned that the 20-year minimum was toward the low end of the possible range the judge could have sentenced him for the offense.

“In my opinion, under the facts of this case, you deserve much higher of a sentence,” the judge said. “What you did was reprehensible, unforgivable and destroyed this young lady’s life and the lives of [her] entire family.”

Craig was given credit for 85 days already served behind bars.