Bigfork Man Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Assault, Child Porn Charges

A 24-year-old Bigfork man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Whitefish hotel last May and possessing child pornography on his cell phone pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony count of sexual abuse of children and a misdemeanor count of sexual assault.

Noah James Lafontaine entered the pleas during a Feb. 2 arraignment hearing in Flathead County District Court before Judge Danni Coffman.

A bail reduction hearing was also held at the time of the arraignment, with Judge Coffman denying the request and ordering the bail to remain at $100,000. Lafontaine was arrested on Jan. 24 and remains in the Flathead County Detention Center.

According to charging documents, a woman reported a sexual assault to the Whitefish Police Department last May and told officers that Lafontaine touched her genitals over her clothing while she was sleeping in a hotel room. The woman, her friend, and Lafontaine were staying in the hotel following a bachelorette party the day before she reported the incident. Lafontaine was in a separate bed before the alleged interaction occurred, records state. When he got up to use the bathroom, the two women left the room.

The reporting party also told law enforcement that she believed Lafontaine was recording her during the event and he had also been texting her to apologize for his actions.

Following the report, detectives interviewed Lafontaine who confirmed he had stayed in the hotel room. He told law enforcement that he was “very intoxicated,” and it was “plausible” that he touched the reporting party inappropriately. He also admitted to taking photos of the two women but said he deleted them, records state.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Lafontaine’s cell phone and sent the contents to the Department of Homeland Security. The cell phone contained 50 images of child pornography – prompting an investigation.

In a second interview, Lafontaine admitted to having a pornography addiction and said that, while he has never searched for child pornography, the images showed up on his phone during other searches, according to documents.

The images were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) where officials identified children in nine of the images. Investigators confirmed that one of the children was between the ages of 5 and 9 when the abuse occurred. The investigator reported that the perpetrator is serving life in prison for molestation of a child under the age of 12.

During the bail reduction hearing, Lafontaine told the court that he had been living with his parents before the arrest and he had full-time work to return to if he was released.

The defendant’s father testified at the hearing and told the court that he would block internet access from his son in their home if he was released, but admitted he was unsure how to enforce the rule outside of the house.

Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner argued that since it would be difficult to block internet access from Lafontaine, jail would be the only secure place for the defendant to reside.

“The biggest concern here is Mr. Lafontaine admitted that he has an addiction – a sexually motivated addiction that resulted in the possession of photographs of children as young as 5 years old,” Ahner said. “What’s also very troubling about this particular matter is not only do you have the pornography charge, but we’ve also got a hands-on offense.”

Lafontaine’s defense attorney, Sean Hinchey, argued that his client had no significant criminal history and that he had a stable home and job to return to.