Child rapist gets 15-year prison sentence

Man also facing bad-check charges

The Daily Inter Lake

A Flathead County resident convicted of sexually abusing a young girl throughout most of her teenage years has been ordered to serve 15 years in prison.

Lawrence John Sheehan, 62, was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County District Court to 25 years in Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended.

He must complete a sex offender treatment program at the prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Sheehan was returned Tuesday to Flathead County, where he faces additional felony charges for writing bad checks. Sexual abuse charges filed in Flathead County, which name the same victim as in Lincoln County, were dismissed following Sheehan's Monday sentencing.

The sexual abuse - which occurred in Lincoln County, Flathead County, Idaho and Arizona - was ongoing and continuous, according to court documents.

Prosecutors alleged the abuse began in 2000, when the girl was just 13, and continued for seven years. In 2003, the girl gave birth to Sheehan's child, according to court documents.

Sheehan previously pleaded innocent in Flathead County District Court to writing bad checks totaling more than $4,600 over a three-day period in July 2005, but failed to appear for his March 2008 trial.

The checks were written to businesses across the Flathead Valley, including grocery stores, sporting goods stores, and an auto parts store.

If convicted in Flathead County, Sheehan faces up to an additional 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.