(AP) — A former western Nebraska police chief has been sentenced to 20 to 24 years for a sexual relationship with a teenage girl.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office says former Hemingford police chief Mark Lindburg was sentenced Wednesday in Box Butte County District Court.

The 53-year-old Lindburg initially was charged with first-degree sexual assault and child abuse. In an agreement with prosecutors, Lindburg pleaded no contest last month to one count of attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child, and the child abuse count was dropped.

Lindburg had faced up to 50 years in prison.

An investigation showed Lindburg engaged in sexual interactions with a 15-year-old girl while on duty as Hemingford’s police chief. Investigators said Lindburg had known the girl “as long as she could remember.”