A Coupeville man is accused of sexually abusing a child for years, beginning when she was “approximately 5 to 7 years old,” according to a report by a detective with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

Prosecutors charged the man, 35-year-old Caleb M. Brunner, in Island County Superior Court Dec. 3 with rape of a child in the first degree and child molestation in the second degree. If convicted of the charges, he could face up to 13 years and three months in prison under the standard sentencing range.

Brunner was summoned to appear in court on Dec. 22 for arraignment.

A year ago, the child’s mother reported to police that the child disclosed the alleged sexual assaults to her for the first time by writing about the abuse and her feelings in a notebook.

Detective Chris Peabody with the Island County Sheriff’s Office interviewed the child, who is now a teenager, earlier this year. The girl described how Brunner sexually assaulted her repeatedly over the years, often when she was in her bed at night or when her mother was away from home, the detective’s report states.

The abuse started when the girl was in kindergarten, the report states. In one instance, the girl explained that Brunner blindfolded her and pretended to be a dentist when he sexually abused her, the detective wrote. He gave her a lot of candy afterward.