A Sullivan County man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing and raping a child, according to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

Police say Joel Deutsch abused the girl in the Village of Wesley Hills over the course of seven years. The offenses began in 2017, when she was six years old.

The 34-year-old was arrested in July and entered his plea on Thursday. Sentencing is set to take place in August.

The maximum sentence is 25 years to life. According to a release from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, the judge has promised a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in state prison “with respect to the top count of the indictment charging predatory sexual assault of a child.”

District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh expressed disagreement with that sentence in the release.

“It did not reflect the gravity of the defendant’s actions,” he explained. “We believed that the facts of this case fully justified the maximum penalty.”

Deutsch will be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.