OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) – A former Conway police sergeant pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl while acting as her guardian and was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.

William McClellan, 51, admitted he had a sexual relationship with the girl who was 16 in 1998, when the assaults occurred.

“You molested me and took advantage of me,” the victim said at the sentencing in Carroll County Superior Court. “As a child growing up, I looked up to you more than anyone.”

The victim met McClellan and his wife through the First Assembly of God Church in Fryeburg, Maine. She had run away from home and became close to McClellan, eventually moving in.

The victim said she reported the assaults to the pastor, Donald Maranville. But prosecutors said Maranville, 50, did nothing about it and faces charges of failing to report child abuse.

In court, McClellan apologized.

“I will never fully know the harm that I’ve caused you, but I hope you will be able to find some peace in your life,” he said.

McClellan also was ordered to complete a sex offender evaluation and upon his release he must register as a sexual offender for 10 years.