A Battle Creek man who told police he raped the wrong woman asked a judge Thursday for mercy.

"As a man and a father I have to accept responsibility for my actions," Armand Hudson told Calhoun County Circuit Court Judge Sarah Lincoln. "I don't want anyone to ever treat my daughter like I treated that young lady. I was irresponsible, I was rude, I was disrespectful.

"I provide for my family and I am asking the court to give me mercy. Give me another opportunity."

On Sept. 17 Hudson, 41, pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in the June 18, 2016 rape of a 38-year-old woman. The plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors who dropped a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge which carried a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.

He was sentenced Thursday afternoon to five to 15 years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.

The victim of the attack, who did not appear in court for the sentencing, told Battle Creek police and later testified in a court hearing that she was walking home early that morning on Fremont Street when she was attacked.

"To be fair this is likely the nightmare of almost every woman I can think of to be simply trying to walk home in the dark and be attacked by a stranger," Lincoln told Hudson.

The woman told police she had been with her boyfriend but they had an argument and she was on her way home sometime after 3 a.m. that day.

RELATED: Battle Creek man ordered to stand trial in rape case from 2016

She testified at an earlier hearing that she felt someone nearby and she ran to the porch of a house but was dragged to the ground, her shorts were removed and she was raped while her attacker held her arms above her head.

"Why are you doing this?" she recalled asking her attacker. "I don't even know you."

She testified the man told her it was a joke. "I thought you were someone else."

The woman told police that during the rape, she asked the man if he had a condom and he stopped and put it on and then continued the attack.

She also said the man told her a group of guys had dared him to commit the rape but thought she was someone else. She said he apologized and began to cry.

When it was over the woman told police she was afraid the man might hurt her and so she took his hand and had him walk with her a short distance before she went on to her home.

"The facts around this case are extremely bizarre," defense attorney Justin McCarthy told the court. "What is a bit strange is how this ends up and the victim takes his hand and walks off."

Tests showed Hudson's DNA on the woman's breast and a short time after the attack the woman's boyfriend found a picture of Hudson on Facebook and she identified him as her attacker.

"The fact of the matter, there seems to be no excuse for this other than some kind of bet or dare, which makes it all the worse," Lincoln said.

She noted that Hudson has four prior felony convictions and 22 misdemeanors, including two domestic assaults.

"Whether it was the right victim or the wrong victim, no one deserves to be treated in this manner. I have real concerns about the safety of women in this community if you are not sentenced to anything other than prison," Lincoln said.

Contact Trace Christenson at 269-964-3888 or text CRIMES (274637) SOTIP or see www.crimereports.com with information about crimes.