The mother of a teenage girl who was the subject of a five-day manhunt in May spoke today at a sentencing hearing for the man who drove her daughter to Florida.

“The stress of a missing child was way too much to take,” the mother told Butler County Judge Timothy McCune.

The defendant, David W. Eberhardt, 19, pleaded guilty to interference with the custody of a child, corruption of minors, theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced to the terms of a plea arrangement crafted by the Butler County District Attorney’s office: 15 to 30 months in state prison, followed by four years’ probation.

However, Eberhardt is eligible for the state’s boot camp program.

Inmates assigned to boot camp undergo a 6-month disciplinary and training program, which, if completed, results in immediate release on parole.

In court, Eberhardt issued a brief apology to the girl and her family.

Court records say the incident began May 10 when the girl, then 14 and from Butler, failed to meet up with a friend and her parents reported her missing.

Calling the incident a “nightmare,” the mother said she too now suffers anxiety and sleeping issues. And the girl’s siblings have forever been changed.