Man Sentenced To Nearly 600 Years In Prison

A man convicted of sexually assaulting a child has been sentenced to almost 600 years in prison.

Fifty-seven year old Richard Heeringa was sentenced Thursday to 576 years to life in prison on 17 counts of sexually assaulting a child.

Casimer Spencer, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, says Heeringa declined to address the judge in Douglas County District Court and laughed as his sentence was read.

Heeringa was accused of sexually abusing a girl over a span of three years beginning when she was 12.

His trial was in 2010 but he fled the state just before the jury announced its guilty verdict. He was captured in 2011 while living in Detroit.

Heeringa was apprehended when a resident recognized him from a picture on “America’s Most Wanted.”