A 51-year-old man who raped a female cyclist who was trying to fix her flat tire along the Springwater Corridor in Gresham was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison.

Thomas Gerald Peacock -- an ex-con who had spent most of his life in prison and was out only seven months at the time he attacked the 22-year-old woman -- declined to make any statements.

His defense attorney, Dawn Andrews, said Peacock can't undo the harm he's caused but can accept responsibility by pleading guilty.

The woman didn't attend the hearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, but she's glad Peacock got a substantial sentence and relieved she didn't have to testify at a trial, said prosecutor Jeff Auxier.

Peacock pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree kidnapping.

Police and prosecutors said Peacock preyed on a vulnerable woman who saw him bicycling toward her and asked for help on March 18, 2016, in the late afternoon during daylight hours. The woman told police that Peacock stopped and started to hand her a bike pump, then grabbed her by the forearm and held a knife to her throat.

The woman said Peacock threatened to kill her, so she followed his orders to walk into a wooded area next to Johnson Creek. He ordered her to the ground and raped her, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The woman falsely told Peacock that she was 12 and he looked startled, got dressed and abruptly left, according to the affidavit. The woman went to a nearby Walmart along West Powell Boulevard and summoned police.

Police put out a public plea for help in identifying her attacker. She described him as bald, in his mid-40s, wearing a red jacket and jeans.

Four days after the attack, Peacock's brother met with police to say that he saw the description while viewing media coverage about the attack and he thought the rapist was his brother. He told police that shortly after the time of the rape, his brother had ridden his bicycle to his house near the Springwater Corridor Trail and was wearing a red jacket and muddy jeans.

On March 23, police showed the woman a six photo line-up of different men. She picked Peacock out as her attacker.

When police arrested Peacock on March 24, he denied that he'd sexually assaulted the woman, according to the affidavit.

Auxier said DNA collected from the woman came back a match to Peacock.

Peacock had been released from prison in August 2015 after having served more than 30 years. He went to prison in 1984 for burglary and robbery, but escaped several years into his sentence from a farm annex of the Oregon State Penitentiary with two other men, according to prison records.

The group tried to kill a 63-year-old man by slitting his throat with a dull box cutter before stealing his car and some beer -- and Peacock received more time for those crimes, prosecutors said.

The Springwater trail stretches 21 miles from Portland to Boring and is a frequent route for cyclists, walkers and runners. The trail, however, has experienced its share of problems -- including a large homeless population at the time the woman was raped.

Neither the woman nor Peacock were homeless, prosecutors said. At the time of his arrest, Peacock listed his home address as a small house in Southeast Portland near the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.

In addition to 20 years in prison, Peacock also was sentenced to 20 years of post-prison supervision.

-- Aimee Green