A New Jersey man has been ordered to serve up to three decades in state prison for the years-long sexual abuse of a girl in Bensalem.

Thomas N. Padikal, 72, of Hainesport, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 to 30 years in state prison for the abuse, which began in 2007 when the victim was just 8 years old.

In a victim impact letter read in court by Deputy District Attorney Kristin M. McElroy, the victim wrote that the abuse she suffered left her “trapped in the prison of my own mind.” Saying she was “unable to be a child,” the victim described attempts as a young girl to keep herself disheveled and “dirty” in the hopes Padikal would not want to continue the abuse.

A jury in June convicted Padikal of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and related counts after less than a half-hour of deliberation.

Over two-and-a-half days of testimony, jurors heard accounts of the near-daily abuse from the victim herself, viewed text messages from Padikal to the victim and listened to a recorded phone call in which the defendant told the victim he “sacrificed” himself for her sexual education.

The abuse occurred over two years while Padikal lived in Bensalem, and ended only when he lost access to the victim. He remained in the area working as a physicist in the medical field for several years before moving to New Jersey. He was arrested in November.

Padikal in the intervening years stalked his victim on social media, published a website documenting his obsession with her and kept a PowerPoint file containing pornographic photos upon which images of the victim’s face had been crudely superimposed.

Despite the jury’s verdict, Padikal denied wrongdoing while speaking at his sentencing hearing and directed blame for his actions onto his victim. He asked to go home to be with his friends and to continue his career.

“I maintain my innocence,” he said. “I am very shocked at the allegation and the way it was made.”

Arguing for a lengthy prison sentence, McElroy pointed to the long-running nature of Padikal’s crimes. She also highlighted his “complete lack of remorse” as well as his attempts while jailed after his arrest to offer the victim money to drop the case against him.

 “This defendant preyed on a child,” McElroy said. “She was vulnerable, and the defendant exploited that.”

Judge Raymond F. McHugh, after also hearing from several of Padikal’s friends and colleagues who spoke highly of the defendant’s character and professional accomplishments, said that their comments and the defendant’s credentials were impressive.

“But he is not an excellent human being,” the judge said. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is guilty of this offense.”

Judge McHugh rejected Padikal’s attempts to shift blame as “nonsense,” and said his conduct has caused the victim serious harm.

Noting the criminal case’s beginnings as a 2018 report in Texas that was referred to detectives from the Bensalem Township Police Department, McHugh called the investigation “police work at its finest.”

The case was investigated by Bensalem Township Police with the assistance of Bucks County Detectives. New Jersey State Police assisted in Padikal’s arrest. Deputy District Attorney Kristin M. McElroy handed prosecution.

Both McElroy and the detectives involved received commendations Tuesday evening for their work in the case.

Contact: James O’Malley, 215.348.6298, jtomalley@buckscounty.org