NASHUA – John Parker maintained his innocence to the end, tearfully protesting what he said amounted to a life prison sentence.

“I’m innocent, ma’am,” Parker, 62, told the judge. “I’ll die in jail. I’m an innocent man.”

Judge Jacalyn Colburn would have none of it. Nor would the prosecutor, Michele Battaglia. Nor the victim or her mother, who sat in the back row of Courtroom 3 in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Nor did 12 jurors, who convicted Parker in November of five counts of sexually assaulting his great-niece, barely 13 at the time, in the bedroom of her Nashua home. Parker then was living temporarily with the family.

Colburn on Wednesday sentenced Parker, 62, to two consecutive prison terms of 10 to 20 years each. She gave the Allenstown resident the chance to shave five years off the minimum of the second sentence if he completes a sex offender program in prison.

If he completes the program, Parker likely would be paroled after serving 15 years, Colburn said.

For the moment, that seems unlikely. To enter the program, Parker would have to admit guilt.

He showed no inclination to do that at his sentencing hearing.

Parker entered court shielding his face from a news photographer and ducking behind his attorney, Rodkey Craighead.

Ever since his arrest, and continuing through his sentencing, Parker likewise ducked responsibility for assaulting his great-niece.

She said the attack destroyed her self-esteem and caused her 16 years of nightmares.

Instead, Parker called his accuser, now an adult, “a pathetic liar” and suggested she trumped up the charges as a ploy in a child custody issue.

That claim didn’t sit well with either Battaglia or Colburn.

“His claims are just disgusting and reprehensible,” Battaglia said.

His statement amounted to another attack on his victim and an attempt to discredit and shame her, Battaglia said.

Colburn said she had reviewed a thick file about the child custody issues the victim had as an adult, and nowhere did she attempt to use the abuse she suffered from Parker as a ploy.

“There is absolutely not a shred of evidence of that in any way, shape or form,” Colburn said.

Colburn also was astonished at Parker’s claim that in 30 years, he never had so much as a parking ticket.

Maybe he never got a ticket, and he has no prior convictions for sexual assault, Colburn noted.

But Battaglia catalogued Parker’s lengthy arrest record in New Hampshire and Massachusetts on charges ranging from possession of heroin and breaking and entering to physical assault and forgery.

“Your record is abysmal, and it goes back 30 years,” Colburn said.

Craighead argued for a shorter prison sentence, noting that Parker has emphysema and was hospitalized briefly for a heart attack during the 146 days he was incarcerated in Valley Street jail awaiting sentencing.

Parker’s longtime girlfriend also spoke in court. Addressing Colburn from a wheelchair, the woman said she suffers from multiple sclerosis and Parker cares for her constantly. She asked the court to impose home confinement rather than sending Parker to state prison.

“Send him home with an ankle bracelet. He is my life. I do not want to die an early death alone,” the woman pleaded.

Her son also spoke, saying he worries about his mother’s health without Parker’s care.

Colburn said the woman is likely an unintended victim in this case.

“All indications are he was kind to you, but not kind to (the victim) some years ago,” Colburn said.

She added, “John Parker is not coming home.”

The judge said she put more weight in statements by the victim and her mother, which Battaglia read as the two sat quietly in the court.

In her statement, the victim described Parker as “a man I will never consider my uncle again.”

After recounting the damage Parker had done to her life, the victim urged Colburn to accept the state’s sentencing recommendation of two consecutive terms of 10 to 20 years in prison.

She urged the judge to think of other children who suffered sexual assault and may be afraid to report the attacks.

Battaglia said Parker is the worst kind of offender because he refuses to accept responsibility for his crime.

That makes him more likely to repeat his offenses, she said.

Colburn rejected Parker’s plea that he is innocent of the charges. During the trial, both Parker and the victim testified, giving jurors the rare chance to evaluate the credibility of each.

The jury unanimously and overwhelmingly believed the victim, Colburn said.

In the trial, the jury deliberated for only a few hours before returning guilty verdicts on all five sexual assault charges.

“I’m innocent,” Parker sobbed.

“I disagree, the state disagrees and the jury disagreed,” Colburn said.

Colburn reread the charges as Parker stood sobbing before he was led from court to start his prison sentence.

Patrick Meighan can be reached at 594-6518 or pmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com.