A Butler man pleaded guilty Tuesday to repeatedly raping and assaulting a minor last year.

Danny T. Nichols, 38, was brought up from Butler County Prison, where he's being held, to plead guilty to two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault and strangulation. The deal, which was arranged between Nichols' public defender Joseph Smith and Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella, calls for Nichols to be imprisoned for 17½ to 45 years. Nichols will be sentenced Aug. 22 if Judge William Shaffer accepts the plea deal.

Police initially sought Nichols in December for accusations that he strangled a girl. After his arrest on Dec. 5, the victim told authorities that Nichols did more than just choke her.

The victim told authorities that she suffered a weekend of sexual assaults, during which Nichols forced her to consume alcohol.

The incidents occurred so often during the weekend leading up to Nichols' arrest that she had trouble recounting specifics, according to police documents.

With the new allegations, Nichols faced three charges of rape, one count of raping a substantially impaired person, four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old, four counts of aggravated indecent assault, one count of strangulation and another count of corruption of a minor, all of which are felonies.

He also faced a number of misdemeanor charges: four counts of indecent assault, simple assault and furnishing liquor to a minor.

Zanella said that the victim in the case and her family were “ultimately satisfied with the deal.”

He continued, “This is obviously a very serious offense. It's a difficult process, but they've been supportive.”

As part of the plea deal, Nichols will be ordered to have no contact with the victim and must register as a Tier III sex offender, a lifetime designation.

Zanella said that after the assaults, the victim was first taken to UPMC Passavant before being transferred to UPMC Children's Hospital for treatment.

The doctors who treated the victim were prepared to testify if the case had gone to trial, Zanella said.