A 30-year-old Groton man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl to whom he gave a sexually transmitted disease.

Peter A. Black will be sentenced May 17 to 10 years in prison, 15 years of strict probation and lifetime registry as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault of a person younger than 13 years old. Black entered his plea under the Alford Doctrine, which indicated he did not agree with the state's allegations but did not want to risk a trial, where he could receive a harsher sentence if convicted.

Despite the Alford plea, Judge Patrick J. Clifford told Black he would be undergoing sexual offender treatment on probation and that he "may have to make certain admissions."

According to prosecutor Theresa Anne Ferryman, officials from Lawrence & Memorial Hospital notified Groton Town Police on Aug. 29, 2008, that a 3-year-old had tested positive for gonorrhea. The girl, who knew Black, told adults that he had done something bad to her. Black denied the allegations and agreed to be tested for gonorrhea. After testing positive, he admitted to police that he sexually assaulted the girl two weeks earlier after smoking marijuana and crack cocaine and drinking beer.

Black has remained incarcerated in lieu of $350,000 bond since his arrest.

Defense attorney Sebastian DeSantis said Black is involved in a Bible study program in prison that has become "a very important part of his life."

"He's working very hard to turn his life around," DeSantis said.

- Karen Florin