JACKSON, MI – A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly sexually assaulting his 3-year-old daughter.

His crimes are punishable by up to life in prison and he will serve at least 25 years in correctional facilities because of the girl's age, according to information presented in court.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain is to sentence the man on Dec. 4.

McBain will have the option to stack the sentences, meaning the man could serve consecutive terms of 25 years or more for each count, his lawyer, Anthony Raduazo, said.

The Citizen Patriot is withholding the man’s name because he shares a last name with his daughter, now 4, and the newspaper typically does not publish names of sexual assault victims.

The man admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the girl while he was living with her and her mother in October 2012 at the Avalon Hotel in Blackman Township. His wife assisted him, he told the judge.

As part of the plea agreement, the man will testify against his wife.

The woman, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Her case is pending. A preliminary examination is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, in the courtroom of District Judge R. Darryl Mazur.

Police arrested her in August after additional evidence came to light, authorities earlier said. Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka on Tuesday declined to make much comment about the woman’s case because it is ongoing.

To a detective, she admitted to helping her husband, more than once, attempt to have sex with the girl. She said she had to hold her daughter’s hands so “it wouldn’t hurt that much,” according to a Michigan Department of Human Services petition. The petition seeks to terminate the parents’ rights to their daughter and the woman’s rights to her two sons, ages 6 and 8. She is in the county jail and the children are no longer in her care.

Her husband admitted to Blackman-Leoni Township public safety Detectives Joseph Merritt and Christopher Boulter, a sergeant, that he may have attempted to have sex with his daughter six times. He said this occurred “too many times to remember,” according to the petition.

He showered with the girl, inappropriately touched her, took elicit photos for his own “sexual gratification” and watched pornography with the child, the petition alleged.

Much of the activity detailed in the court record is too graphic for publication.

The abuse went on for months.

According to an amended criminal complaint, it began in August 2012 and continued until May 13, Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Walker told the judge.

In exchange for the man’s plea, the prosecutor’s office is dropping 10 other counts.

Jarzynka said Raduazo offered his client’s cooperation, and the man agreed to take responsibility for two “substantial” charges.