A former soccer coach convicted of a sexual relationship with a teenage player was sentenced Monday in a Miami County court to two years in prison.

Jeffrey Walden, 45, now of Knoxville, Tenn., pleaded no contest and was found guilty in March of two counts of felony sexual battery.

The charges alleged he engaged in a sexual relationship with a member of one of his soccer teams beginning when she was age 15 in 2007 and continuing into 2011.

Troy police said Walden was a coach of traveling teams and at one time coached a team in Brookville schools.

"This was a years’ long affair between a grown man and a child," said Janna Parker, assistant Miami County prosecutor, at sentencing before Judge Christopher Gee in county Common Pleas Court.

The girl told Gee she has tried to forget and move on, but instead suffers from anxiety, anger and depression. She read a written statement. "You are an adult ... Own up to your mistakes," she said to Walden. "You continue to lie about our relationship."

Defense lawyer Chris Bucio said words cannot describe the pain Walden has caused his family as well as the victim's family. However, he added, Walden's actions were "out of character."

Walden said he made the biggest mistake of his life when he began the relationship with the girl. He said he was not a threat to society and hoped that the girl "can find it in her heart to forgive me."

Walden's fiance and his father asked the judge to have mercy on him.

 The finance described Walden as a family man who had become a father to her children. "He reaches out and shows God's love to others," she said. His father, Charles Walden, said his son "strayed off course with one individual," but was a good person.

Gee said Walden used his position of authority as a coach to foster the relationship. “He took advantage of her youth and her vulnerability” and assisted her in deceiving her mother, the judge said. The victim would continue “to carry the baggage of the perverted relationship,” Gee said.

He sentenced Walden to two years in prison and notified him he’ll have to serve five years of post-release supervision following prison release. Walden was credited with 137 days served in jail.

A sex offender classification hearing was scheduled for Friday in Gee’s court.