Hayden man sentenced to 25 to life for child sex charges

COEUR d’ALENE — A 53-year-old Hayden sex offender who was lauded by friends and family as someone who takes responsibility for his actions, was sentenced Wednesday to more than 25 years behind bars after he tried to convince a Coeur d’Alene judge that his charges had been inaccurately portrayed.

Brian Hollis spent more than a half-hour Thursday afternoon in First District Court telling Judge John Mitchell that a previous conviction of having oral sex with a child over a period of years had been blown out of proportion. He served eight years on probation for the crime.

The latest charges, including fondling and taking photographs of a 3-year old’s vagina, had also been misconstrued, he said.

Hollis told Mitchell that despite pleading guilty, he didn’t do what was outlined in the charges.

“I don’t want you to think I’m in denial,” Hollis said.

After listening to Hollis’ lengthy disclaimers, Mitchell wasn’t buying.

“You’re not doing a very good job of convincing me of that,” Mitchell said.

At an earlier hearing Hollis pleaded guilty to one count of lewd conduct with a minor, and a sexual offender enhancement that mandates 15 years behind bars, and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Mitchell sentenced Hollis to between 25 years and life for lewd conduct, which could keep Hollis behind bars, at the behest of the Idaho Department of Corrections, until he dies. He was sentenced to 15 years for each additional count.

The sentences will run concurrently, which means Hollis could be released after 25 years.

Before Mitchell’s ruling, deputy prosecutor Laura McClinton asked Mitchell to impose the mandatory sentence and add a lifetime maximum. Kootenai County Public Defender Anne Taylor countered by requesting Hollis be paroled after serving the mandatory 15 years.

Wearing a suit and manacles, Hollis stood before the court and pleaded for a more lenient sentence than the 15-year fixed term required by law. Hollis explained that Taylor had urged him to not make the request because it would appear as if he wasn’t taking responsibility. He said his attorney had threatened him with 80 years behind bars if the case went to trial. He asked the judge for a better deal.

“I hope you don’t hold yourself to this agreement,” Hollis told Mitchell. “Let’s find something more appropriate for Brian (me).”

Earlier in the hearing, Hollis’ stepfather had portrayed Hollis as “a good man,” and his pastor, Seth Hohenstreet, called him reliable and forthright.

Hollis had portrayed himself as a person who didn’t shirk responsibility, and who faced adversity, even that of his own making.

McClinton, however, said Hollis had lied to authorities and his wife about the latest accusations, and he came clean only as a last resort.

Mitchell’s assessment was just as plain. He accused Hollis of putting himself in situations in which he could take advantage of children, of shirking the tools he had received through rehabilitation while he was on probation.

“This has obviously become a compulsion for you,” Mitchell said.

After reviewing images of the toddler on Hollis’ cell phone and stored on a laptop, Mitchell said the defendant had played down his crime.

“With all due respect, I disagree with your claims,” Mitchell said.

When the judge asked Hollis if he would like to withdraw his guilty pleas and have a jury trial, Hollis declined.