A former handyman at two Portland apartment complexes was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison Monday for groping three young girls.

Delbert Ray Ross, 58, handed out sweets at the apartment complexes where he worked, acquiring the nickname of the "candy man."

In 2003, he gave some candy to a 10-year-old girl and grabbed her breasts.

In 2005, he lifted up the shirt and squeezed the chest of another 10-year-old girl, telling her she had nice breasts. Around the same time, he rubbed the chest of a 12-year-old girl. Ross was convicted of three counts of first-degree sexual abuse in Multnomah County Circuit Court in October.

Monday, his attorney, Scott Raivio, asked Judge Michael Marcus to sentence his client to about six years in prison, the mandatory minimum under state law. Raivio said a longer term would be excessive. He also said that his client would only be able to receive sex offender treatment outside of prison, so incarcerating him beyond the minimum wouldn't put his client back on track toward recovery.

Prosecutor Nathan Vasquez asked for more than 18 years. Vasquez said Ross was at high risk to re-offend. A psychologist determined that Ross was unlikely to change.

"This wasn't a one-time mistake," Vasquez said. "This was a repeated behavior."

Ross worked as a maintenance man or apartment manager at the Morgan Place Apartments and the Emerald Park Apartments.

Ross declined to say anything, even after the judge asked him a second time if he'd like to speak. During his trial, Ross claimed he was innocent. He said one of the girls had placed his hand on her shoulder, he'd tickled another girl and another girl's story wasn't true.

The victims and their families attended Ross' sentencing hearing. One girl stood up to say she had nightmares and was afraid to leave home after she was abused.

"Sometimes I would go to the pool with my friends and you would show up and I would be so freaked out I almost cried," she said.

Vasquez spoke for the girl's parents, because they were too angry to speak themselves, he said.

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