Jordon Baze didn't turn around to face the small crowd that gathered in the courtroom to witness his sentencing when he apologized for raping a 2-year-old girl.

"The fact of the matter is I don't think anyone should have to be forgiven for something like this," he said.

"I just hope my punishment will help the family ease their pain," he added.

Baze, a 26-year-old Oak Harbor resident, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court to child rape in the first degree. In accordance with the plea bargain, Baze agreed to ask the judge for an exceptional sentence years beyond the standard range.

Wednesday morning, Judge Alan Hancock obliged. He sentenced Baze to 15 years to life.

"This precious child has suffered a traumatic injury," Hancock said, "and I'm no different than anyone else in that I find it hard to understand how one human being could do this to another."

Hancock called the details of the crime "absolutely appalling."

"I could venture to say this is the most henious rape of a child in the first degree this court has seen," he said. The judge noted that Baze will spend the rest of his life being supervised by the Department of Corrections, both in prison and after his release.

Two years ago, Baze raped the toddler while the child's mother, Baze's former girlfriend, left the Oak Harbor apartment to do laundry. The woman returned to find a screaming child with bloody diapers.

The rape caused such a terrible injury that the tiny girl had to be taken to Children's Hospital in Seattle for surgery.

Teri Gardner, the Oak Harbor detective who investigated the case, took the unusual step of speaking at the sentencing hearing. She said this was the only time in her nine years of investigating that hospital personnel called to find out what happened with a patient.

"They were so affected by this case that they wanted to know how the family is doing, how the victim is doing," she said.

The girl's father spoke about the anguish the crime has caused the family and the terrible guilt he feels for not being able to protect his daughter. He asked the judge to give Baze a life sentence.

"Releasing him back into public is not an option," he said.

The girl's mother said she feels sickening guilt. She said she will never have custody of her children because of the sexual assault. She said she isn't even allowed to see her children unsupervised.

"I will never forgive myself for trusting him. Ever," she said. "I will never trust anyone."

Baze's stepfather spoke briefly, apologizing to the victim's family and describing how he tried in vain to get his stepson off meth.

Baze's attorney, Darrin Hall of Coupeville, argued that his client's extensive use of methamphetamine contributed to the terrible crime, but he emphasized it wasn't an excuse.

The attorney said Baze pleaded guilty and agreed to the lengthy sentence because, in part, he wanted to spare the victim's family from an ugly trial.

"It would be very hard on the family," Hall said.

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