In the end, it was Rachel Warris' own words that a Lehigh County judge invoked before giving the Allentown woman the maximum sentence for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.
Warris repeatedly proclaimed her innocence in the case, testifying at her trial in March that the victim pushed his penis in her face and she had to bite him to get him away.
Accused woman says she's the sex attack victim
Prosecutors presented a trove of evidence they said showed Warris, who was 39 at the time of the crime, was grooming the boy months before she sexually assaulted him Feb. 11, 2015.
A Lehigh County jury found Warris guilty on all counts -- involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors.
On Tuesday, the 41-year-old Warris opted not to make a statement to Judge Maria Dantos before receiving her sentence.
Dantos confronted Warris about statements the defendant made in a pre-sentence investigation. The judge said it showed Warris had no remorse and took no responsibility for what happened, and that she was "predator" who "groomed him at an early age."
Dantos asked point blank if Warris bit the boy on his genitals, and she said yes, "but there was a reason."
"Your explanation of what happened is not credible, it was not believed by the jury and is, quite frankly, ridiculous," Dantos replied.
Before handing down the maximum sentence in the case -- 15 to 33 years in state prison, the judge read from a letter Warris wrote to her fellow inmates, following misconduct in the jail.
"I hope you reflect on your behavior and how it affected me," Warris wrote to the other inmates. "Be mad at nobody but yourself."
The victim and his mother were not in the courtroom on Tuesday.
"They're trying to move on," Senior Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Morfi Marks.
Marks said Warris' sentence is one of the higher ones she has seen in cases where an adult sexually assaults a teenager.
Dantos said she was impressed by the victim, calling him bright and charismatic, and lauded his mother, who called police after seeing Facebook messages from Warris to her son.
"I hope for his sake that you have not stripped him of that," the judge said.
Warris' husband was in the courtroom Tuesday, but he also did not speak to the judge.
Robert Warris Jr. is on probation as part of a first-time offender program for filing a fake police report against his wife's sexual assault victim.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.