The man molested the girl when he baby-sat her and her younger brother at his house. The girl's grandmother was at work at the time, said Deputy State's Attorney Charles Strong.
"I'm very sorry this has all happened and I apologize for it. I'd like to make it change, but I can't," the man told Judge McDowell before sentencing.
The victim's mother cried.
Defense lawyer George E. "Chip" Snyder Jr. said his client has been getting therapy several times a week and realizes what he did was wrong.
But McDowell said the man showed no remorse when police first confronted him with the girl's story.
"It shows you were minimizing your behavior," McDowell told him.
The girl's behavior has been affected by the abuse. She has been acting out in sexually inappropriate ways, McDowell said.
"The enormity of damage that has been done to the child is often not seen for many years," he said.
The man touched the girl's genital area, the judge said.
The girl told her mother about the incidents on Feb. 14, Strong said.
The girl's mother told authorities the incident has "brutally destroyed" the trust she placed in her family.
It also has damaged her relationship with her mother, who has stood by her husband, Snyder said.
