(Michigan City, IN) - A 60-year prison sentence has been given to a La Porte County man convicted of having sex with preteen and teenage girls.

Authorities said Richard Piechocki admitted to engaging in sexual activity with teenage girls on multiple occasions last year. Authorities said the girls were given as much as $700 and taken shopping to keep the activity a secret.

In exchange for the guilty plea, charges involving four other alleged victims were dropped in La Porte Superior Court 1. According to authorities, the 46-year-old Piechocki engaged in the activity weekly last year on a bed he kept in his garage in Hudson Lake. The girls were ages 11-14.