VIERA, Fla. -- A repeat sex offender from Brevard County was found guilty again Thursday morning of exposing himself to a group of girls, but first he received compliments from the judge.

Lamar Fullmer, 49, represented himself in the trial. He had already been convicted of flashing a group of girls in 2002 at two bus stops. Now, the Merritt Island man has been convicted a second time.

The judge complimented Fullmer before he rendered his verdict, saying the case was actually one of the best defended he had presided over and the best case of a man defending himself, but he still found the evidence overwhelming and convicted Fullmer.

"I have to come to the conclusion that you are either the wisest guilty man or the guiltiest wise man in the county," Judge Larry Johnston said Thursday morning.

Putting a spin on a line about a mad man from the play Man of La Mancha, Judge Johnston praised Fullmer and then told him his decision.

"I'm sorry to have to announce that my finding is guilty of the main charge," he said.

Fullmer was convicted of approaching three girls in a Cocoa neighborhood and then exposing himself in 2006. The girls ran to a nearby home where three young men hopped in a truck and followed Fullmer home.

Fullmer, acting as his own defense attorney, occasionally stumbled his way through his own trial. He questioned at length the victims directly and grilled police officers about discrepancies in their reports, but it wasn't enough.

The victims said they were thrilled with the verdict.

"I'm very happy, because he won't be able to do this again for a really, really long time, so it's pretty important to me," said victim Taylor Demmy.

Since Fullmer was on probation for the same crime four years earlier, he will go back to prison. When the judge asked him if he wanted to continue with sentencing, Fullmer insinuated he knew he faces a long prison term.

"It really makes no difference to a man who is not going to live long enough to be released," Fullmer said.

Late Thursday morning, the judge sentenced Fullmer to 15 years in prison, followed by at least 12 years of probation. He also has been declared a sexual predator. During the sentencing, Fullmer told the judge he was diagnosed with cancer and is not expected to live more than four years.