× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A former state trooper in prison for sexually assaulting a girl won't have to pay out his retirement benefits to his victim, despite lawmakers' efforts to allow it.

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday found that an amendment passed by state senators to allow it was unconstitutional.

The decision came in the case of Billy Hobbs. The former Nebraska State Patrol major went to prison in 2006 on a 25- to 30-year sentence for first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The girl told investigators that the sexual abuse began when she was 12 and went on for nearly two years.

Her father sued Hobbs in civil court and got a $325,000 civil judgment, but the Supreme Court rejected his request to use Hobbs' monthly pension to pay off the judgment.

State law protected it from collection actions, the court said.

So in 2012, with Hobbs' case in mind, a state lawmaker proposed to change the law to allow judgments to be taken from pension funds if they resulted from certain felony crimes, namely, felony assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, child abuse, false imprisonment or theft by embezzlement. The amendment passed.