PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Former Jackson County deputy Jason McGrath, 48, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Wednesday for four counts of sexual battery and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes.

McGrath initiated the abuse on June 23, 2014 while he was the step-father of the victim who was only 13-years-old at that time.

The victim notified her mother the next day of the abuse and the Pascagoula Police Department began to investigate.

As the trial progressed, the State presented testimony of two other relatives that said that they had been abused by McGrath or that he had attempted to engage in other sexual contact with them when they were children. McGrath apparently lived with each of the two relatives at different periods of time.

McGrath was employed with the Sheriff's Department from 2002 until 2013.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence said he hopes this sentence sends a message that abuse of children will not be tolerated.

"When he was a deputy, this defendant (McGrath) took an oath to serve and protect this community," he said. "Not only did he violate his oath, but he also violated the trust these children and their family members placed in him to be around their children.

Lawrence continued: "Three children lost their innocence due to his depraved sexual abuse. I am proud the jury heard the evidence and found him guilty. This forty year, day for day, sentence certainly tells this defendant, and I hope others, to leave our children alone and we will not tolerate abuse of our children."

After his release, McGrath will serve ten years on post release supervision and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.