A Kalispell man was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison with 15 years of supervised release after he admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs of a child while boating in Flathead County, according to court records.
Edward Timothy Cockerham, 43, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to sexual exploitation of a child.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Missoula.
“Cockerham victimized a child for his own sexual gratification,” U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson stated in a press release. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his reprehensible conduct and puts other offenders on notice that they face serious consequences for harming children. Crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children will be fully investigated and prosecuted.”
According to court documents, Cockerham took two children boating on Ashley Lake in Flathead County in June 2021 and touched one victim and took sexually explicit photographs while on the water. The victim reported the defendant’s actions.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office seized Cockerham’s cell phone and searched it pursuant to a warrant, according to an offer of proof. An initial review determined he had deleted all of the images but a subsequent search of the cell phone by a forensic examiner with the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation located sexually explicit images of the victim, along with sexually explicit images of two other child victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.