Life in prison for day-care operator

A Kalispell man convicted of sex crimes against children will spend the rest of his life incarcerated.

James Matthew Thorne, 42, was sentenced Thursday in Flathead County District Court to 200 years in Montana State Prison without the possibility of parole.

He laughed as he exited the courtroom.

Judge Ted O. Lympus ordered Thorne, who pleaded guilty in November 2006 to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent involving young boys, to serve 50 years on each count.

The state sentence will run concurrently with a 30-year federal sentence handed down in December after Thorne was convicted of possessing and manufacturing child pornography.

Pursuant to federal regulations, Thorne will serve his federal and state sentences in Montana State Prison; even though he was sentenced in federal court first, the state sentence is longer.

The court heard no testimony from Thorne, his family, his victims or his victims' families.

Prosecutors essentially received the sentence they sought - life without parole. Defense attorneys had recommended that Thorne receive four concurrent 40-year prison terms to run concurrently with the federal sentence, but were denied.

Authorities allege the sexual assaults occurred between January 2002 and August 2006. According to court documents, at least four boys between ages 8 and 15 were involved.

Thorne has said the sexual assaults occurred in his home on Mission Way, where he and his wife operated Paint and Place Daycare.

Court documents, which outline the multiple illegal sexual acts Thorne committed against each boy, also describe instances in which Thorne forced the boys to perform sexual acts on each other. One of the victims told investigators he abused other children outside of Thorne's presence because Thorne had taught him to do it.

Sentencing on the state charges, which was originally scheduled for March 2007, was delayed to allow time for the adjudication of the federal charges and because a sexual-offender evaluation had yet to be completed.

Flathead County prosecutors, who had recommended a life sentence without parole, eventually used the federal psychological and sexual offender evaluations.

During a federal court appearance in June 2007, Thorne pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and the receipt and possession of child pornography after photographing young boys wearing only underwear and then selling the clothing on eBay.

He was sentenced in December.

Thorne's federal sentence also included a lifetime of supervised release and prohibits him from socializing with anyone under 18, visiting parks, playgrounds or schools, and from calling 900 numbers.

According to federal documents, officials seized 8,000 images of illegal child pornography and 120 videos from Thorne's computer. Some of the images were received via the Internet, but officials also found numerous pictures and videos that Thorne took or recorded of boys in his care.

Investigators found pictures of children under age 12 engaged in sadistic or violent sexual activity.

Flathead County Sheriff's detectives began investigating Thorne in August 2006 after the mother of a 2-year-old child who attended the day care reported her son may have been sexually assaulted.

Less than a week after those allegations were made, Thorne's mother-in-law told a Department of Public Health and Human Services worker that Thorne had admitted to taking nude photographs of young boys.

The state worker was at the home establishing a safety plan for foster children who had been placed with the Thornes, according to court documents.

Detectives interviewed Thorne's wife, who told them Thorne further admitted to taking pictures of other nude children while he or the child were performing sexual acts.

One boy told investigators Thorne ran an online business selling young boys' underwear on eBay. Thorne would photograph young boys modeling the underwear, download the photos, and then post those pictures online to sell the garments. The boy was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions during these photo sessions, court documents said.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com