A 35-year-old Abilene man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault of a child, Assistant Criminal District Attorney Derek Estep said in an email.

Authorities said Nathan Randall Earle pleaded guilty and was sentenced after an investigation uncovered sexually explicit images of underage girls and communications between Earle and a 16-year-old female from Eastland County.

Earle met the girl through a telephone service and admitted to coming to Eastland County and sexually assaulting her during December of 2010, law enforcement said.

Here’s the release from the Eastland County District Attorney’s Office:

SEX OFFENDER SENTENCED TO MAXIMUM

EASTLAND, TX, August 1, 2012 – Nathan Randall Earle, 35, pled guilty on Monday to Sexual Assault of a Child, a second degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Earle pled guilty to the charge and elected to have the Court set punishment. Judge Steven Herod of the 91st District Court presided over the sentencing hearing and, sentenced Earle to 20 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the maximum allowed. Criminal District Attorney, Russ Thomason, represented the State at the hearing, and John Saringer, of Abilene, represented the Defendant.

Earle was arrested in Abilene for parole violations in March of 2011. Authorities found sexually explicit images of under-age girls, and communications between Earle and a 16 year old female from Eastland County. Earle met the girl through a telephone service and admitted to coming to Eastland County and sexually assaulting her during December of 2010.

During the hearing Monday, evidence was presented that Earle had been previously convicted of multiple felonies including burglary of a habitation, burglary of a building, fraud, and credit card abuse, as well as multiple misdemeanors.

Monday after the sentence was pronounced, Thomason stated, “Mr. Earle sought young girls over the telephone and online in an effort to ultimately manipulate them into having sex with him. He is a predator and con-artist, but a sentence like this will keep him out of our communities and away from our children for a long time.”