By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON - A Bloomington man has been sentenced to 42 years in prison for sexually assaulting two young girls.

McLean County Judge Robert Freitag sentenced John E. Smith, 40, on Thursday for the predatory criminal sexual assault of two girls under 12 years old.

Smith was convicted in August.

Freitag called Smith's actions ``the most vile and reprehensible conduct.''

The judge says there's ``significant evidence'' that it wasn't the first time Smith had engaged in such conduct.

Eric Stock can be reached at eric.stock@cumulus.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.