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DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A serial child molester in Pennsylvania who tattooed an underage girl in exchange for sex will spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes against 15 children.

A Bucks County judge sentenced 36-year-old Walter Meyerle on Thursday to 494 to 982 years behind bars.

The judge convicted Meyerle in August of 170 counts of molesting boys and girls ages 4 to 17. The crimes spanned 13 years, from 1997 to 2010.

Meyerle, of Falls Township, was arrested in May 2011 after police said he tattooed a girl in return for sexual favors.

The investigation led authorities to identify other victims, most of them the children of Meyerle's friends and girlfriends.

The Doylestown Intelligencer reports the sentencing hearing took nearly four hours because of numerous victim impact statements.