A north Alabama man who was convicted in April of child rape and incest was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors announced.

Lawson Miller Sr., 44, of Guntersville, continuously had sex with the child — a female relative who was under his care — when she was 10 through 13 years old, said Marshall County District Attorney Jennifer Bray.

Marshall County Judge Christopher F. Abel, who presided over Miller’s trial, sentenced the Guntersville man on Monday.

“My heart is grateful for Judge Abel’s sentence in this case, not only as a district attorney, but as a mom and member of this community,” Bray said in a statement.

The district attorney said she was proud of the victim’s courage in coming forward.

“Mr. Miller will die in prison, and that is honestly better than he deserves,” Bray said.

After a three-day trial, a Marshall County jury convicted Miller after just 40 minutes of deliberations on charges of first-degree rape of a child less than 12, first-degree rape by forcible compulsion and incest, the DA’s office said.

Abel sentenced Miller to the maximum on each count.