LAKE IN THE HILLS – A retired Lake in the Hills deputy police chief was taken away in handcuffs Wednesday so he could begin serving a

4½-year prison sentence for raping a teenage girl in 2015.

The case of 61-year-old Alan Bokowski was one of the last to be called in McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather’s courtroom Wednesday morning. The ex-cop pleaded guilty to the most serious charge against him in exchange for the dismissal of additional weapons and sex abuse charges.

Prosecutors offered Bokowski a negotiated plea Friday, less than two weeks before he was scheduled for a jury trial on the charges Feb. 26. He will serve four years and six months in prison, which is more than the four-year minimum sentence for the offense.

Under Truth in Sentencing guidelines, Bokowski is required to serve

85 percent of his sentence, and after completing at least three years of parole, he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Neither McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein nor Bokowski’s attorney, Peggy Gerkin, would comment after the sentencing.

Bokowski, of the 1300 block of Dolo Rosa Vista, Crystal Lake, was charged in 2016 with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to an eight-count criminal complaint filed in McHenry County court.

In a victim-impact statement Eisenstein read aloud in court Wednesday, the victim’s father said Bokowski showed little remorse for harming the 16-year-old girl.

“Al made it sounds like he should not be held accountable because he didn’t want to go to jail,” the father wrote.

Bokowski had known members of the victim’s family for more than

20 years, was invited to holiday dinners and had been considered extended family, the victim’s stepmother wrote in a statement.

The teenager and her stepmother had been helping Bokowski care for his ailing mother, and eventually, the teen girl began accompanying Bokowski to his mother’s home by herself, according to the parents’ written statements.

“Since I’d known Al for a long time, I trusted him with her,” the victim’s stepmother wrote.

Crystal Lake police began their investigation after meeting with concerned parents who reported that their teenage daughter was sexually assaulted at Bokowski’s home, according to a news release from Crystal Lake police at the time.

Police have obtained a recording of Bokowski admitting to having sexual contact with the girl, prosecutors said.

He later was charged with possessing firearm ammunition, several shotguns and pistol and rifle rounds without a firearm owner’s identification card.

He also was accused of inappropriately touching a woman in 2015, according to the same complaint.

Those charges were dismissed as part of the negotiated plea.

Before retiring in 2006, Bokowski worked for the Lake in the Hills Police Department for 26 years.

A recent review of his personnel file did not reveal anything of concern, Lake in the Hills police communication coordinator Ashley Eccles said in an email Wednesday.

So far, Bokowski has paid the victim’s family $908 to cover costs for the girl’s counseling. The county will keep $10,000 of his $25,000 bail to potentially cover ongoing mental health expenses for the family, attorneys said.

Bokowski did not make a statement in court Wednesday. He is due in court Aug. 21 for a status update about his payments to the family.