WALLACE - Former Shoshone County deputy and school resource officer Shawn Alan Clark was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for sexual battery that spanned 12 years.

"I am not going to carry this anymore. It is your burden, not mine," said the victim in the case to Clark before Judge Fred M. Gibler delivered the sentence in Wallace.

The 20-year unified sentence includes 12 years fixed and eight years indeterminate, exactly what Shoshone County prosecuting attorney Keisha Oxendine requested for the 12 years Clark sexually abused the victim from the time she was 8 years old.

"He has earned prison time," Oxendine said. "He robbed her of her trust, childhood and innocence."

Clark pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery after he signed a plea deal May 21 in exchange for dismissal of lascivious conduct and misdemeanor battery charges. Clark put his head down and appeared to cry beside defense attorney Sean P. Walsh after Gibler imposed the sentence and before being led away in handcuffs Monday.

"Your actions obviously had an impact on her physically and mentally that will most likely be with her for the rest of her life," Gibler said to Clark.

Clark, who worked for the Shoshone County Sheriff's Department from November 2002 until August 2005, was arrested March 19.

Walsh contended Monday that Clark was a low risk to reoffend. The defense attorney said Clark had also been a victim of sexual abuse as a child and that he repented and admitted to the crime he committed.

"There is no way you can have this crime occur and have a better response than what he has brought," Walsh said.

Clark made a brief statement before receiving his sentence.

"I'm sorry for everything I have done and all the problems I have caused. I hope for forgiveness from my family," he said.

However, the victim's statement told a different story.

"You are supposed to be the father figure in my life, but you made me feel unsafe in my home. You were a cop, someone I should have been able to trust ... I want to see you behind bars for at least 12 years, the number of years you sexually abused me," she said.