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A former foster father from Hooper, Nebraska, was sentenced to what amounts to life in prison Tuesday after being found guilty of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Michael R. Rice, 49, had pleaded no contest in Dodge County District Court to that charge and to a charge of child abuse in exchange for dismissal of nine other sex-related charges. Dodge County District Court Judge Geoffrey Hall sentenced Rice to 90 to 95 years for first-degree sexual assault of a child to be followed by another five years for the child abuse conviction.

“I think the judge handed down a very fair sentence,” said Dodge County Attorney Oliver Glass. “(Rice) is not going to be in a place where he can ever harm children again.”

Rice began preying upon children in his home at least as far back as 1998, Glass said. Court records show the investigation started following an assault of a girl between the ages of 12 and 16 in October 2013.

Rice and his former wife fostered dozens of children, Glass said. No charges have been filed against the ex-wife.

Three women 18 or older and one 17-year-old girl were willing to testify in court that they had been sexually assaulted by Rice, Glass said. He said he thinks there were many others that “simply didn’t come forward.”