LOCKPORT, N.Y. — A convicted sex offender who prosecutors say fathered a child with an 11-year-old girl has accepted a plea deal in order to avoid life in prison.

Jacky Berry, 52, pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree attempted course of sexual conduct against a child. The charges carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

However, as part of the deal, Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas agreed that she would not sentence Barry to more than 15 years behind bars. The sentence will also include 20 years of post release supervision.

A two-time child sexual assault offender, Berry could have faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if he had been convicted, after a trial, on the original charges in the case. He had been charged with both predatory sexual assault against a child and predatory sexual assault.

Barry had previously rejected the plea offer. A grand jury indictment accused Berry of having sex with the young girl from July 2007 until November 2010. 

During a family court proceeding, earlier in the case, the victim indicated that two other men could have fathered her child. However, prosecutors said DNA testing, conducted earlier this year, confirmed that Berry was the father of the victim’s child.

The victim, who was 11 years old at the time of conception, gave birth when she was 12 years old. The age of the victim now and the age of the child have not been made public.

Berry had been designated as a Level 3 sex offender after sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl in 1990. He served a seven-year prison sentence for his conviction in that case and served six years in prison for a 1980 conviction on a charge of first-degree rape.

Pfeiffer writes for the Niagara (N.Y.) Gazette.