MIAMI COUNTY, Ohio -- "I am not guilty of this," said Richard Markland, of Covington.

He claims he's not guilty of rape or gross sexual imposition, despite what a jury said on November 15 following two days of testimony.

The 55-year-old Markland was obviously upset as he stood before a judge Tuesday afternoon in Miami County Common Pleas Court for sentencing.

Reading from a folded yellow sheet of paper, Markland continued to tell Judge Jeffrey Welbaum that "I'm being sent to prison as an innocent man and I am extremely upset because I don't know what to do and because the system determined that it had found me guilty on a 'reasonable doubt'."

Markland was then sentenced to life in prison for rape and five years for gross sexual imposition, to run concurrently.

His victim was under the age of 10, so state law required the judge to sentence him to life in prison.

The Assistant County Prosecutor James Bennett said that Markland must serve 10 years before becoming eligible for parole consideration for the first time.