A 42-year-old North Platte man will spend the next five to ten years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

In Lincoln County District Court on Monday, Judge Donald Rowlands handed down the sentence to Edward Maline.

Maline was charged with sexual assault of a child in December 2012, after a then 19-year-old female reported that she had been sexually abused by Maline.  The victim alleged that Maline began touching her inappropriately and engaging her in acts that were sexual in nature when she was eight or nine years old.

Maline pleaded no contest to the charges.

Defense attorney, Robert Lindemeier, called Maline’s mother to the stand, prior to sentencing, to testify to both the character of her son, as well as that of the victim.

She said Maline was a good father who loved and cared for his children very much and said he had no criminal history prior to this.

During closing arguments, Lindemeier asked the Court to consider that Maline had saved the State the time and expense of a trial by entering a plea to the charges.  He also noted that Maline had been a long-time employee of the Union Pacific and had no prior criminal history.

Lindemeier argued that a psychological evaluation showed that Maline was not a pedophile and did not pose a risk to reoffend.

“If this weren’t a sexual assault, I’d be arguing for probation, ” said Lindemeier.

Lindemeier did acknowledge the Court’s tough stance on sex crimes, but argued that Maline did not deserve to get the maximum sentence under the Law due to discrepancies in the facts of the case, as well as the character of his client and the reputation of the victim.

Maline told the Court he was very sorry for what he and done, and was just ready to move on with his life.

Prior to sentencing, Judge Rowlands noted that Maline did save the State the time and expense of a trial by admitting to the charges, and agreed with Lindemeier that there were some discrepancies in the facts of the case and, therefore, it did not warrant a maximum sentence.

He said the psychological evaluation had been conducted by a mental health professional that was trusted by the Court, and showed that Maline was not a pedophile or a risk to reoffend.

He  said he also considered the victim impact statements submitted by the victim and her mother.

He then sentenced Maline to not less than five nor more than ten years in prison.

Maline was given credit for two days already served in jail and he must register as a sex offender.

He was remanded to the custody of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office to await transfer to Lincoln.