Kalispell man who sexually exploited child sent to prison

A Kalispell man who admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs of a child while boating on Ashley Lake west of Kalispell was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Edward Timothy Cockerham, 43, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to sexual exploitation of a child. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the case.

“Cockerham victimized a child for his own sexual gratification," Johnson said 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."

Court documents allege that in June 2021, Cockerham went to Ashley Lake with two children. Cockerham took the victim, who was under the age of 18, boating. While out on the water, Cockerham touched and took sexually explicit pictures of the child. The child reported Cockerham’s actions.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office seized Cockerham’s cellphone and searched it pursuant to a warrant. An initial review determined Cockerham had deleted all of the images. A subsequent search of the cellphone by a forensic examiner with the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation located sexually explicit images of the child, 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.