The teenage victim of a Middletown man smiled as Butler County Common Pleas Judge Noah Powers essentially gave her attacker a life sentence.

The victim appeared to give a satisfied smile as her mother hugged her from behind when 74-year-old Leonard Stamper received a 20-year sentence on three counts of rape. Stamper, after first attempting an insanity defense, pleaded guilty in July.

Stamper raped the girl for three years beginning in 2007 in Middletown when she was younger than 13.

The teenager, who told Powers she had been in a “mental institution” for a while because her mother feared she might commit suicide, spoke eloquently to her attacker prior to the sentencing.

“Today is my day, today is the day I’ve waited for since you walked into my life four years ago. Today is the day I get to be bigger than you,” she said. “You are a creature, I will call you a creature because you are not worthy of name. You stalked my life, day and night, for years. You are the creature that I will lose tonight and I will free myself in silence.”

The girl’s father also spoke, with outrage, saying Stamper was “manipulative,” “calculating” and violent by nature.

“He should never see the light of day, he should never be allowed to see, touch, be anywhere near children…,” he said. “He should not be allowed to be in society ever again.”

Stamper’s daughter and his brother and sister spoke on his behalf saying he is a wonderful man, good father and caring brother. When Stamper had his chance to speak he was barely audible. He did apologize for his “transgressions” and said he was sorry to the victim, her family as well as his own.

Powers sentenced Stamper to the maximum 10 years on each count but ran the third concurrent with the first two for a total of 20 years in prison. He also ordered him to pay $8,160 in restitution to the victim’s family.

He said Stamper had up until this point lead what appeared to be an exemplary life, and he was “puzzled” how he ended up in this situation. He said he made the victim grow up too soon and that was inexcusable.

“I’m not sure what happened to you somewhere along the way, how you lost your path, how you lost your humanity,” he said. “But you did, it seems clear to me the harm that was visited on (the victim) was the result of predatory behavior. You’ve ruined this family, you’ve ruined this girl… The harm here was great.”