A Harlem man convicted of the horrific murder of his girlfriend’s 6-year-old son was hit with the maximum prison term on Monday by a judge who rejected his claim in court that he “loved” the boy.

Rysheim Smith, 47, was sentenced to 25 years to life in the 2016 death of Zymere Perkins in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Smith was convicted of murder and manslaughter charges in the case in January after what Judge Ruth Pickholz described as a “long and difficult” trial that included horrific photos of the youngster’s injuries.

“Despite how the prosecution has spoken about me, I loved Zymere Perkins,” Smith claimed in court. “I put emphasis on that.”

“I do accept responsibility for him being in a toxic environment,” he said. “I don’t have the financial means to take him out of it, though I was starting to.”

But the judge didn’t buy it.

“This boy, this child, this 6-year-old innocent existed in a living hell,” Pickholz said in court. “He was tortured. He was starved. He was forced to stand at night and not lay down. Yes, his teachers tried.”

“This child did not see any love at home,” she said. “He died a horrible death. The jury found that he died at the hands of Mr. Smith.”

Smith was convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. 

Zymere died Sept. 26, 2016, after what prosecutors described as months of abuse by Smith and the boy’s mother — including beatings with a broomstick.

Assistant District Attorney Kerry O’Connell said Smith also shoved Zymere into a cold shower then hung him — wet and unconscious — from a hook before throwing the youngster into the wall. 

“(Zymere) didn’t have to imagine anything to be afraid of,” O’Connell said during closing arguments. “He didn’t have monsters. He had two horrible human beings living down the hall next to him.”

She said Smith and the boy’s mother “are both equally responsible for his depraved murder.”

An autopsy revealed that Zymere had more than 30 rib fractures.

Zymere’s mother, Geraldine Perkins, also reported seeing Smith punch her son in the ribs and stomach — and admitted she also beat him.

She received a plea deal to testify at the trial in exchange for a 2-to-6-year sentence.

Perkins testified at the trial that she spent 10 minutes putting on makeup before taking her son’s lifeless body to the hospital. 

During his summation, defense attorney Arnold Levine alleged that it was Perkins, not Smith, who killed the youngster. 

Levine said Perkins couldn’t handle her hyperactive son and finally snapped — worried that her son would ruin her relationship with Smith.

“She has never taken responsibility,” Levine said. “She had to give up Ryshiem to get something. Rysheim cared whether that little boy lived or died that day.”

“She did not,” he said. “She killed her little boy.”

The Administration for Children’s Services had five prior investigations of alleged abuse of Zymere in the home at the time of his death.

The case sparked an outcry about the failings of the child services system.