A Butler man was sentenced Wednesday in Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to the indecent assault of a woman who told the court the incident, which took place over Labor Day weekend last year, shook her so badly she became addicted to drugs and contemplated suicide.

Nathan Nicholas Saul, 31, was sentenced 9 to 23½ months in prison followed by 12 months of probation and was ordered to register with state police as a Tier II offender under Megan's Law for 25 years.

Judge Kelley Streib ordered the sentence after the woman read a victim impact statement, saying she was barely 18 when she was violated by Saul, who she thought she could trust.

“I died that night in his basement,” the woman said.

She said she turned to illegal drugs for relief and contemplated suicide. She said she climbed onto a roof and placed a cord around her neck.

“I was broken. Everything reminded me of him and what happened,” she said.

She told the court she lost her job, her parents kicked her out of their home, she overdosed in her grandmother's home and she contracted COVID-19 while staying in a drug rehabilitation center.

“I prostituted myself for drugs to feel better,” she said.

However, she said has been sober since June 3.

“I'm slowly becoming human again,” she said.

“Your life is worth more than your past,” Streib said. “You made a difference by choosing life.”

Saul, who appeared in court via video from the county prison, didn't make a statement before he was sentenced.

He was on parole in two unrelated cases when the assault occurred Sept. 6, 2020. Streib ruled that he violated terms of his parole in both cases. She revoked his parole in one of the cases and no further action was taken on the other case. Saul was given credit for having already served 183 days in prison.

Charges of rape, sexual assault and harassment were dismissed.