(PLATTE COUNTY, Mo.) A Platte County man was sentenced to 30 years in prison after sexually molesting a girl from the time she was two years old. 

Brandon Vanmeter, 31, received his sentence in Platte County Circuit Court after pleading guilty back in November 2019 to first degree statutory sodomy. 

The abuse was first reported by the victim when she was eight years old by telling staff at her school after hearing a "bad touch" presentation. The school offers a hotline for the Jackson County Division of Family Services that hand information over to law enforcement. 

Vanmeter initially denied the sexual contact with the victim, but later admitted with his guilty plea that he did abuse the girl at least five or six times.

Prosecutors worked to get a 30 year sentence for Vanmeter while the defense asked for 10 years. Judge James Van Amburg sentenced Vanmeter to 30 years on Thursday in which he must serve 25 and a half years of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole. 

"Words cannot adequately convey the horrific crimes this man inflicted on this young child," Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said. "No number of years behind bars can adequately address what this defendant did. However, Judge Can Amburg's sentence appropriately recognizes the terrible toll these crimes take on children."