Jan. 31—A 36-year-old Rathdrum man with a history of child sex abuse and heroin trafficking will spend the rest of his life in prison for various sex crimes against children.

Timothy Gutierrez was convicted in November of lewd conduct with a minor, injury to a child and two counts of possession of child pornography, according to a Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office news release.

Law enforcement received a tip in December 2022 that Gutierrez was sexually abusing a 12-year-old family member, the release said. Officers learned Gutierrez started sexually abusing the family member when they were 11 years old and that Gutierrez would smoke fentanyl in front of the child.

Officers discovered multiple images of child pornography, which included prepubescent children engaged in various sex acts, on his cell phone, the prosecutor’s office said.

Gutierrez was previously convicted of lewd conduct with a minor when he, at the age of 17, sexually abused minor children.

Gutierrez was convicted of trafficking heroin, eluding officers during a traffic stop and possession of methamphetamine as an adult.

He was on probation at the time of the recent sex crimes.

District Judge John Mitchell sentenced Gutierrez Tuesday to life in prison without parole for lewd conduct; 10 years in prison without parole for injury to a child and child porn possession charges.

Mitchell revoked Gutierrez’s probation and imposed the sentences in the eluding and possession of meth cases.

“Having been convicted of multiple serious crimes throughout his short lifetime, including repeated sex offenses, the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office considers Gutierrez to be a continued threat to the general public and citizens of Kootenai County and deserving of life in prison without parole,” the release said.