An Auburn man will serve time in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing a child.

Judge Thomas Leone sentenced Elwood Raymond Thursday in Cayuga County Court to 5.5 years in prison and three years of post-release supervision. Raymond , 27, of 41 Park St., Auburn, was convicted Dec. 11, 2007, of one count of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and one misdemeanor count of child endangerment. A jury found that he touched inappropriate parts of a 5-year-old girl's body over her clothes.

The misdemeanor conviction carried a sentence of one year in prison, which will run concurrently with the larger prison term. Raymond will also have to pay $1,370 in fees and surcharges, and Leone issued an order of protection for the victim.

Raymond, who denied the charges throughout the trial, maintained Thursday that he is not guilty.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Raymond said before hearing his sentence.

Leone did not give Raymond the maximum possible sentence of seven years. Raymond has a minimal criminal history, he said. However, Leone said that he could not go along with the two to three years for which Raymond's attorney, Norman Chirco, asked.

"I am troubled by the fact that you are not owning up to any responsibility at all," Leone said. "There is a problem here. You have a problem."