SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — An Air Force staff sergeant with the 52nd Communications Squadron has been sentenced to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for molesting a 14-year-old girl last November in Bitburg military housing.

Justin Holcomb, 26, was sentenced Friday in a general court-martial by military judge Col. William Orr, who also reduced him in rank to E-1.

Holcomb pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child, abuse and sexual contact of a child, and forcible sodomy with a child.

He could have been confined to a maximum of 90 years in jail, but his potential sentence was reined in by a pretrial agreement.

The crimes occurred on two occasions last November, according to court testimony. Holcomb admitted that on Nov. 1, he fondled the girl under her T-shirt while she slept next to him during an overnight bus trip to Paris. On Nov. 11, he attempted to have intercourse with her in the bathroom in Bitburg housing.

"I’m deeply ashamed of my acts and violating the trust of [the victim]," Holcomb tearfully testified in court.

Holcomb did not serve any jail time before his trial.

He’ll be required to register as a sexual offender following his release from prison, according to court testimony.