A Connecticut man awaiting trial for allegedly beating his 10-month-old son to death has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl.

Derrick Siberon pleaded guilty Tuesday under the Alford doctrine to first-degree sexual assault as the victim was about to testify. An Alford plea means the defendant doesn't admit to the criminal act and maintains their innocence, but enters the plea admitting the evidence would likely lead a judge or jury to find them guilty.

According to the Connecticut Post, the girl reported the assault in 2015 and an investigation was launched the same year, but detectives didn't send a rape kit to the state lab for testing until 2017 — when Siberon was being investigated for his son's death.

The girl's mother and her boyfriend brought the young girl to the Bridgeport police station in April 2015 to report that she allegedly had been sexually assaulted by Siberon, a family member, the Connecticut Post reports.

Siberon faces 10 years in prison and 20 years of probation at sentencing on Jan. 8.