LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Guatemalan man has been sentenced to at least 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in Nebraska.

45-year-old Hector Valladares-Miranda was sentenced on Tuesday to 35 to 45 years in prison. He faces deportation to Guatemala upon his release.

Valladares-Miranda pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault. The girl told police he abused her for several years when she lived in Lincoln.

His attorney argued for a shorter sentence because it was his first offense and he faces deportation.