A 39-year-old Wareham man who violently assaulted his ex-girlfriend in front of her young niece nearly two years ago in Freetown has been sentenced to state prison.

Darryl Ribiero pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court this week to charges of aggravated assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and strangulation. He was sentenced to serve three to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation.

According to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, the victim had recently broken up with Ribiero at the time of the incident. On Aug. 29. 2015, the victim was staying with her cousin on Braley Road in Freetown.

The cousin was at a concert and the victim was watching her young niece. Ribiero then drove to the home, looked at the victim’s phone, and then beat and strangled her. She then fled to a nearby house and woke up the occupants by banging on their back door in the middle of the night. The neighbors saw Ribiero on their back porch run down the stairs and found the victim severely beaten.

The victim was treated at a local hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and a broken orbital bone.

During a plea hearing before judge Renee Dupuis, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Driscoll argued that based on the brutality of the attack and the fact that it was done in front of a young child, the defendant should serve four to seven years in state prison. The defense recommended a three to four-year state prison term.

“This was a brutal beating by the defendant that put the victim in the hospital. This cannot be tolerated by a civilized society,” District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said. “It is unlikely the defendant will change his criminal behavior and he needs to be locked up for a long time to protect the victim and society.”