A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 26 years in prison Wednesday for killing a 2-year-old boy in 2014 while baby-sitting him at his apartment in Saitama Prefecture.

At the Yokohama District Court, presiding Judge Takao Katayama said Yuji Motte "covered the boy's nostrils and mouth with his hand with intent to kill."

Motte's defense counsel claimed the boy's death was accidental because he drowned in a bathtub while Motte wasn't looking, and said the defendant had no motive to kill the boy.

The ruling said Motte killed the boy and caused his baby brother to develop hypoglycemia by not giving him any milk while baby-sitting the children at an apartment in Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture, in March 2014. The boys were from Yokohama.

Prosecutors had demanded life imprisonment for Motte, arguing that the crime was "cruel and carried out with strong intent to kill" and that the defendant "showed no remorse."

The boy was found dead a day after his mother told the police she had lost contact with the baby sitter, whom she had become acquainted with via the internet.

Motte was also charged with producing child pornography by taking photos of naked children.