Cook broke down in tears as he was sentenced for sexual assault, choking and stalking.
The former college student convicted of sexual assault broke down in tears as he was sentenced.
Alec Cook, 22, had pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of three women and choking or stalking two others while a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Cook was expelled from the college in 2017 after a series of sexual assaults, which took place between September 2014 and October 2016.
In February, he pleaded guilty to some of the charges he faced and while prosecutors pushed for a 19-year prison sentence, defense attorneys sought probation with the possibility of jail time.
"I'm sorry," Cook said in the courtroom Thursday. "I was wrong."
Addressing his accusers, Cook said: "You told the truth and everyone should believe you. This is my fault. You didn't deserve this. And neither did your families. To them, too, I'm so sorry."
On Thursday, he was sentenced to three years in prison and an additional eight years of probation.
The judge, Hon. Stephen Ehlke, imposed a lighter sentence, saying that Cook did not have a previous criminal record, no bail violations and he wished to spare the victims a painful trial.
“What I want them to know is I listened to those voices very carefully,” Judge Ehlke said. "I want them to know that it’s OK if they didn’t agree with me on some of the motions that have been referred to ... what I do want them to know is I tried my level best in this case and every case that I have before me to be fair to everyone."
A representative with a rape crisis center read a statement from one of the victims.
"Part of me did what I had to do to survive through the night with him and it will never grow back,” the statement said.
Also reviewed in the case was a diary that listed the names of women Cook was interested in.
It listed things like job and major, what made her special, his "next step," whether it had come to an end, and the eerie "killed?" next to a checkbox.
The prosecutor says the diary is evidence of “stalking and grooming."
When the story first broke, his high school prom date, Megan Couture, spoke to Inside Edition.
"He definitely tried to persuade me to get in the mood to have sex with him when I didn’t want to," she told Inside Edition.
Couture added that Cook once "threw me on a pool table in his basement."
She added that she was afraid of Cook, saying, “He is a big person. I am 5'2". He is well above six foot. He's just big and powerful."
Back in high school, she said he was known as "Mr. Fingers."
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