A long-running legal case involving an Astoria man accused of sexually abusing his granddaughter has come to a close.

Thomas Michael Kelly, 69, was sentenced Friday to five years of probation for two counts of sodomy in the first degree and one count of sexual abuse in the first degree. He will also have to undergo sex offender counseling.

Kelly was convicted by a jury in 2008 and again in 2013 for sexually abusing his granddaughter over the course of several years.

He was sentenced both times to more than 33 years in prison for 12 counts of sodomy in the first degree and 12 counts of sexual abuse in the first degree.

However, both times the convictions were challenged.

The first conviction was overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals because the trial court allowed a medical expert to testify to a diagnosis of child sex abuse without there being physical evidence of sex abuse. The appeal was based on an Oregon Supreme Court ruling that required physical evidence, a decision that led to several child sex abuse cases across the state being reversed.

The second conviction was challenged over a line of questioning used by the prosecution that was deemed invalid and unfair to the defense.

Instead of trying the case for a third time, the parties decided to settle. Kelly has spent almost nine years in prison.

“We’ve been here on and off for almost 14 years now. And I think I can probably say for everybody that it’s been a long and painful haul,” Clatsop County District Attorney Ron Brown said at the sentencing.

“It’s kind of a bittersweet ending, I submit, because I submit that a grandfather who sexually abused his granddaughter over a period of time deserves every bit of the prison time that we can give him,” he said.

Brown described the process of the victim having to testify during two trials as “cruel and unusual punishment.”

“She’s had no contact hardly at all with anybody on that side of the family for 14 years. She’s had to be on the stand twice, and so I decided, ‘Let’s see if we can get this case put behind us because she’s on a new road,’” he said.

The victim, now 22 years old, was at the sentencing with her husband. Her family sat together at the other side of the aisle behind Kelly.

The victim first told her father’s girlfriend about the abuse after she noticed signs and asked her if she was being abused. She then reported it to police.

The rest of the victim’s family believes the victim lied. Over the course of two trials, a support group for Kelly was formed and “freetom.info” banners were hung around town.

The victim read a statement in court and addressed her family in the audience. “When I needed you the most and I said what was happening everybody turned their back,” she said.

“Back then, I honestly didn’t know what was happening was a bad thing,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine my grandfather ever doing anything to me that was ever going to put me in harm’s way … at the end of the result. But he did. In the end, you hurt me in the most humiliating, horrible, painful, emotional, physical and mental way possibly a human can do to another human.”

Prior to sentencing, Kelly’s attorney said Kelly and his family did not have anything to say as they just want to move on.

In a written statement afterward, the family said, “Tom has agreed to a contractual plea in lieu of going back to trial for a third time, so he can spend time with his remaining family and friends. The Kelly family is thankful and happy to have him home and for this to be finally put to rest.”