A Plymouth man pleaded guilty Thursday to drugging his daughter's friend and then sexually assaulting her.

Michael Bruce Cameron, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct just as his trial was set to begin, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. He will be sentenced Jan. 8.

Under the agreement, he will serve four months in the Hennepin County workhouse. He'll be on probation for 10 years, with a 24-month prison term if he violates the terms of his probation.

"That a man would drug the daughter of a close family friend in order to engage in sexual assault is hard to comprehend," Freeman said. "This man will be in the criminal justice system for a long time."

According to the criminal complaint, Cameron's daughter invited a 20-year-old friend to sleep over the night of Feb. 13. As the two were going to watch a movie, Cameron gave them graham crackers with frosting on top. After eating them, the girls talked about how dizzy they felt and soon fell asleep. Days later, the daughter's friend told her mother that she thought Cameron had taken her to his bedroom and performed a number of sexual acts. But she said it was all fuzzy.

Cameron admitted Thursday in court that he put ground-up sleeping pills into the frosting. He also admitted that once the woman was physically incapacitated, he sexually assaulted her.

A count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct from a similar incident with the same victim in the spring of 2014 is expected to be dropped at his sentencing. The victim did not report that incident to police until 11 months later, when she reported the February assault.

Mary Lynn Smith