MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) _ A convicted sex offender accused of repeatedly abusing a young girl has reached a plea deal with central Indiana prosecutors calling for him to face a 40-year prison sentence.

Thirty-six-year-old Christopher Robert Peterson was arrested in February 2013. The Star Press reports (http://tspne.ws/1nHTdmW ) police say Peterson told officers he had been convicted of a sex crime in New York and acknowledged molesting the girl at least 20 times.

The alleged victim is under age 10. She told investigators Peterson forced her to engage in sex acts over a two-year period.

Peterson pleaded guilty last week in Delaware Circuit Court to one count of child molesting in a plea deal calling for a 40-year sentence.

A judge weighing whether to accept Peterson's plea has set an Oct. 6 sentencing hearing.