An inappropriate workplace romance that culminated in a 14-year-old’s miscarriage has landed an Edwardsburg man in jail.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced 21-year-old Joshua Grounds to 90 days in jail and five years worth of probation Friday in Cass County court, on a single charge of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration. Grounds had pleaded guilty to the count on Nov. 2.

The charge stems from an illicit relationship between the then 19-year-old Grounds and a 14-year-old girl that began while both were employed at the same business. Their relationship eventually became intimate, and their sexual activity resulting in the girl becoming pregnant. However, the victim ended up losing her child through miscarriage, Dodge said.

“Engaging in an act of sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl, which results in her pregnancy and later miscarriage, can probably be expected to cause some long-range psychological effects,” Dodge said. “She was clearly much too young to be introduced to sexual activity, or to contemplate becoming a mother.”

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Frank Machnik, in his statement to the court, admonished Grounds for his behavior, saying the defendant admitted that he knew the victim was only 14, and that they shouldn’t have been dating in the first place.

“He didn’t even, as an adult dealing with a child, take precautions to keep her from getting pregnant,” Machnik said.

Machnik told the judge that six months in jail, on top of a lengthy stint on probation, would be an appropriate punishment for his actions.

Grounds’ attorney, Daniel French, said that his client’s actions, while inappropriate, might have been spurred on by his own immaturity, as well as the fact that the victim’s parents had apparently consented to their relationship.

Speaking on his own behalf, Grounds apologized to court for his actions.

“I wasn’t trying to break any laws,” Grounds said. “I met that girl and I wasn’t really thinking. Then I ended up loving her. And that shouldn’t have happened.”

As a result of his conviction, the Edwardsburg man has been registered as a sex offender.

Grounds was given one day credit for time already served.

Also sentenced Friday:

• Peggy Hood, 46, of Dowagiac, to three years of probation for conspiracy to deliver/manufacture a controlled substance.

• Jessica Bolin, 32, of South Bend, to 18 months of probation for possession of methamphetamine.

• James Dudkiewicz, 26, of Union, to 60 days in jail and 18 months of probation for attempted assault with a dangerous weapon.

• Jewell Shelton, 58, of Dowagiac, to two years of probation for welfare fraud.