A Kalispell man already serving a state sentence for sexually abusing a young girl throughout most of her teenage years will be sent to a federal penitentiary following his release from Montana State Prison.

During a hearing Wednesday in front of U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy in Missoula, Lawrence John Sheehan, 62, was ordered to serve 15 years in federal prison.

Sheehan, who pleaded guilty in June to transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, began sexually abusing the girl in 2000 when she was 12 and living in New Mexico.

Sheehan will begin serving his federal sentence only after completing a 20-year sentence to Montana State Prison.

He is incarcerated at the state prison serving 15 years on a Lincoln County conviction for abusing the same girl and five years on a Flathead County conviction for writing bad checks.

The sexual abuse, which took place in Lincoln County, Flathead County, Idaho and Arizona, went on for seven years.

It occurred both before and after Sheehan, who moved with the girl and her mother from Montana to New Mexico in 2000, served a stint in 2001 at an Arizona prison for parole violation.

Federal prosecutors say the purpose of Sheehan's transient lifestyle was so that he could abuse the girl without being caught. The girl, who often lived in tents and campgrounds, never was allowed to attend school or be home-schooled.

The girl's mother knew about the abuse, which often occurred while the three were in bed together.

In 2003, the girl gave birth to Sheehan's child, according to court documents.

Sheehan was convicted in Lincoln County of sexually abusing the girl and sentenced in October 2008 to 25 years in Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended. He must complete a sex offender treatment program at the prison before becoming eligible for parole.

After that sentencing, Sheehan was returned to Flathead County, where he faced additional felony charges for writing bad checks.

Sexual abuse charges filed in Flathead County, which name the same victim as in Lincoln County, were dismissed.

In November 2008, Sheehan was sentenced in Flathead County District Court to five years in state prison to run consecutively with his other state sentence for the sexual abuse.

Sheehan wrote bad checks totaling more than $4,600 over a three-day period in July 2005.

They were written to businesses across the Flathead Valley, including grocery stores, sporting goods stores, and an auto parts store.

Sheehan has an extensive criminal record that begins in 1964 and includes assault, burglary and DUI.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com