RACINE, Wis. — A southeast Wisconsin man who recorded himself sexually assaulting six young children gave a slight smirk as a judge admonished him for his crimes, leaving the judge taken aback for a moment before he sentenced the Racine man to the maximum 145 years in prison.

Alexander R. Richter, 30, had just apologized for molesting a 2-year-old girl and five other young children. He also acknowledged that his words could do nothing to undo the damage he’d caused. But the corner of his mouth turned upward slightly as Judge Timothy Boyle recounted Richter’s comments to a pre-sentencing investigator.

“You said you feel sorry for (the children), that you ruined their whole lives. But you smiled as you said it,” Boyle noted. He paused for a moment and then noted with incredulity, “You’re smiling now!”

Richter pleaded no contest in September to four charges related to child sexual assault. In exchange prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 80 years. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing.

Boyle, who was not bound by the terms of the agreement, noted that Richter would be 110 by the time his sentence ended, adding that crimes as depraved as his deserved an even harsher penalty to ensure he died behind bars.