Hector Rico, convicted of repeatedly raping and impregnating a 12-year-old, sat impassively Monday as a Schuylkill County judge sentenced him to up to 48 years in state prison.

Rico, 34, an illegal immigrant living in Shenandoah when he committed the crimes, will likely be deported upon his release, said Judge Jacqueline L. Russell.Russell sentenced Rico to five to 10 years on each of four counts of rape; one to two years on each of four counts of incest with a minor, to be served consecutively; and five years of probation on charges of corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.Rico was forbidden from having any contact with the child or her mother.Outside the courtroom, Rico’s public defender, Kent D. Watkins, said his client had already told him to begin the appeal process.Clad in a tan prison uniform and inexplicably wearing white latex gloves, Rico refused to answer most of Russell’s questions, or to initial a set of registration requirements with which he must comply as a convicted sexual offender.“I’m not a sexual predator, that’s why I didn’t sign it,” Rico told the judge.Russell explained to him that although he was not found to be a sexually violent predator, he was convicted on June 9 of raping a child, and so must register with police.Rico refused to answer when she asked him if he understood.“Is there a reason you’re not cooperating?” Russell asked.Although Rico is able to speak English, an interpreter translated the words of the judge and others for him.Watkins, who would later describe his client as a coward, indicated that nothing was wrong with Rico; he was just being uncooperative.Assistant District Attorney Debra A. Smith asked the judge to sentence him to 40 to 80 years.Russell prefaced her sentencing by explaining to Rico how she arrived at the punishment.He had no prior criminal history, she said.However, Russell calmly recounted Rico’s trial, recalling that he began raping the child when she was 11 years old, assaulting her at least once a week, waiting until her mother had gone to work “so she would be vulnerable and alone.”Shenandoah police charged Rico with only four counts of rape of a child because the crimes were committed in four rooms, Russell said.When the child became pregnant, he tried to arrange an abortion, and told her to say she had had sex with others.When confronted by police, Rico claimed the slight, slender child had been the aggressor and overpowered him, a defense Russell called disingenuous.The girl’s testimony, Russell said triggered an emotional response from jurors.“This is one of the few cases I ever saw where numerous men on the jury were actually crying,” Russell said.The child was too tiny to give birth naturally, so she had to have a cesarean section, Russell said.The victim will carry the physical and emotional scars for the rest of her life, the judge said.She said Rico expressed no remorse.Watkins spoke, calling Rico “basically a coward” for targeting the child.His client has no criminal record, and is not a threat to the community, he said.Watkins told Russell she could send Rico to prison for most of the rest of his life, where he would be fed and housed and receive medical treatment, “or you could get him out of the country.”The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has a detainer on Rico, and he faces deportation.Smith called for up to 80 years in prison. The girl, she said, “is forever going to be scarred.”The child was not present for sentencing, Smith said, because “it’s too hard for her to have to see him again.”The judge also ordered Rico to pay court costs and fees.