COEUR d'ALENE - A 55-year-old Coeur d'Alene man on Thursday was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole for rape, the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office said.

Timothy E. Estep was sentenced by 1st District Court Judge John Mitchell, after Estep had been found guilty following a three-day trial that started Dec. 10.

Estep also was found guilty of the misdemeanor offense of dispensing alcohol to a minor, which was part of his conduct on Aug. 4, 2010, that resulted in the rape conviction.

Estep has a criminal history which includes convictions for procuring alcohol for a minor, use of a telephone to threaten or harass, and felony injury to a child under 16.

In ruling that life without the possibility of parole was the appropriate sentence, Mitchell found that rehabilitation efforts would not be successful. Incarceration was the only way to protect society from Estep's predatory conduct, the prosecutor's office said.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said the severe sentence is supported by a record that indicates Estep is a sexual predator whose conduct didn't change while he was on felony probation for felony injury to a child.

"He is not and will not be amendable to rehabilitation efforts, and that if released from prison would very likely return to victimize young women," McHugh said. "While very rarely imposed, the life without possibility of parole sentence is appropriate to protect society from a person who will very likely reoffend if released from prison."