CASSOPOLIS – An Edwardsburg man is going to prison after pleading guilty to a sexual assault on an intoxicated woman last year.

Deion Philip Johnson, 24, of Pine Lake Street in Edwardsburg, pleaded guilty in February to third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced Friday in Cass County Circuit Court to two to 15 years in prison. He must pay $1,048 in fines and costs and register as a sex offender.

The incident occurred Aug. 14, 2018, at a home in Edwardsburg. The victim had blacked out and woke to find Johnson assaulting her, according to court testimony. She screamed, ran out of the home and later went to the hospital and police.

“This crime has changed my life forever,” the victim said before the sentencing. “It flipped my entire world around. I’m still trying to put together the pieces. I lost my sense of security and my self-worth. The nightmares and memories won’t let me forget. I can’t leave my house in the morning without looking around me.

“I’ll never forget how he told me not to tell or he’d kill someone,” she said. “I’ll never forget all the anxiety I had thinking that I would have to testify. This crime has affected my relationships with my family, friends and co-workers. My relationship with my boyfriend ended. I was given depression medicine and diagnosed with PTSD.”

Despite everything, the victim said she is not going to let this incident and Johnson’s actions control her life.

“I’m not going to let this define who I am,” she said. “I want to help other women who have gone through this.”

“She is a very brave young woman,” said Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz of the victim. “She’s not going to be a victim. She will be a survivor. It showed a lot of bravery to be willing to report what happened. … He threatened to kill her and those who would assist her and sexually assaulted her in a violent fashion.

“It’s very unfortunate and sad that he’s trying to turn her into a person who wanted it to happen.”

Defense attorney Robert Drake said alcohol was to blame for the incident.

“There’s nothing in his prior history that suggested this would occur without the introduction of alcohol,” he said. “When that happens, these are the tragic and catastrophic consequences.”

When it was his time to speak, Johnson apologized to the victim, her family and his family.

“I want to apologize to all the people I’ve hurt,” he said. “I made a bad decision and shouldn’t have made it.”

“This has been extremely emotionally scarring for the victim and strained her relationship with family and friends,” said Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman. “It affected every part of her everyday life. She has been hospitalized with PTSD and is on medication.

“Your version is completely different as you said it was consensual although you admitted she was intoxicated and unable to give consent. … I look at her all these months later, and I can’t believe it was consensual. You did a bad thing and took advantage of an intoxicated young woman.”

In other sentencings, three area women were sentenced to probation on theft and drug charges.

• Karly Nichole Mahoney, 27, of South Bend, pleaded guilty to larceny in a building and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation, credit for two days served and $2,353 in fines, costs and restitution.

The incident occurred between January and May of 2018 at a residence in Edwardsburg. Mahoney worked for a maid service and stole jewelry from the home which she later pawned. She also faces three pending charges in St. Joseph County, Indiana.

• Stephanie Marie Thompson, 31, and Tabitha Nichole Williams, 29, both of E. High Street in Dowagiac, each pleaded guilty to possession of meth and possession of ecstasy and were placed on 18 months’ probation. Thompson was given credit for 117 days already served and Williams credit for 82 days already served.

The incident occurred Sept. 10 at a home in the 200 block of E. High Street in Dowagiac when police searched the home and found scales, marijuana, meth, ecstasy and weapons.