A 39-year-old Israeli man has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for repeatedly raping his step-daughter over a period of seven years.

The Jerusalem District Court convicted the man of hundreds of counts of rape, sodomy, indecent assault, sex crimes and additional sex charges, Ynet reported this week.

The judges stated that the acts worsened over the years, beginning from when the girl was six years old.

From 2005 to 2008, while the mother was out of the house, he committed dozens of sexual offenses against the girl, at a frequency of once per week.

The step-father's actions continued despite the early intervention of social services and the victim’s complaints over the years. He managed to attack the girl even after she was removed from her home and put into foster care.

The judges in Jerusalem who imposed the penalty said: "These actions will leave their mark on the girl forever. For each of the hundreds of counts of rape, for each of the many counts of sodomy, the defendant should be punished."

During the trial the father said that he saw the sexual abuse as a “romance” which the two shared.