It happens around supper time.

That is when Marina Treadway sees a visual change in one of the children, a 6-year-old who was sexually abused by Corey McGrath.

“Every day at about 6:30 at night I can see her demeanor change,” Treadway said. “I can only guess if that was the time it happened.”

Treadway, a relative who moved to Idaho from Colorado to take care of one of McGrath’s victims, told a Coeur d’Alene court Tuesday that the now 6-year-old girl also fears showers.

The shower is where McGrath, the boyfriend of the child’s mother, abused the girl.

“It’s almost taken a year, for this child to get into a shower,” Treadway said.

McGrath, 33, who was found guilty by a Coeur d’Alene jury in June of lewd conduct for raping the girl and giving her gonorrhea, was sentenced Tuesday to between 20 years and life in prison.

First District Judge Scott Wayman called McGrath’s crimes unspeakable.

“The impact you’ve had on these girls’ lives is terrible,” Wayman said.

After a lengthy trial last summer, a jury adjourned for 90 minutes before handing down a guilty verdict for McGrath, a Coeur d’Alene construction worker who enlisted his girlfriend and his mother in a twisted web of deceit to prevent him from going to prison.

The jury heard evidence that McGrath watched child pornography and child rape scenes online and then acted out the scenes on the 5-year-old, and later the other victim, a 12-year-old girl.

Health-care workers notified investigators last year when the 5-year-old contracted gonorrhea, a sign of sexual abuse in children.

McGrath initially refused to be tested for the disease. After he complied, neither he nor the child’s mother, Emilie M. Barker, 30, would disclose the test results to police. Detectives resorted to serving a search warrant at Panhandle Health District. They learned McGrath and Barker both tested positive for gonorrhea.

After McGrath was accused of raping the 5-year-old, the 12-year-old victim told police that McGrath had also raped her. Both children later testified to the abuse.

McGrath’s quick conviction last summer came a day after his girlfriend, Emilie M. Barker, 30, was sentenced to a fixed three years behind bars and 12 years indeterminate for attempting to cover up McGrath’s crimes. In an act of intimidation, according to court records, Barker told the abused children that she and McGrath would commit suicide if the girls testified against McGrath.

McGrath’s mother, Sherri Wastweet, 54, coerced one of the children to record a phony conversation to use as evidence to prove McGrath’s innocence. She will be sentenced Nov. 7 on one count of witness intimidation.

Art Verharen, chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said McGrath’s attempt to save his own skin by dragging his mother and girlfriend into the case, using them against the children — resulting in felony charges against them — was beyond reprehensible.

Verharen had for weeks considered the proper sentence for such a heinous series of crimes.

“I started to wonder if a 20-year fixed sentence was enough,” he said.

McGrath kept abusing the children, lying about it, attempting to cover it up, enlisting others in his crime. “There was no indication he would have stopped unless he got caught,’ Verharen said.

If McGrath was sentenced to 20 years behind bars, he would be in his 50s when he was released, or potentially, if held longer, in his 60s.

“Is society going to be safe when he gets out?” Verharen asked. “I don’t know, judge, I think it’s risky.”

Verharen recommended that McGrath spend the rest of his life in prison despite objections from defense attorney Jay Logsdon, who said that most sex offenders don’t re-offend after leaving prison.

Somewhere between 1 percent and 7 percent reoffend after their release from the penitentiary, Logsdon said.

“It’s almost like the spell is broken,” he said.

McGrath, seated beside Logsdon in orange jail-house pajamas, was barely audible when asked to address the court.

“So many things have already been said,” McGrath offered before his voice became smaller and eventually trailed off.

Wayman chose the middle route, sentencing McGrath to between 20 years and life in prison, leaving open the door for McGrath to seek rehabilitation, though Wayman conceded the court didn’t consider rehabilitation in the sentence.

“The evidence against you was unimpeachable,” Wayman said.”The impact you’ve had on these girls’ lives is unimaginable.”