McGovern gets seven years for child porn

COEUR d’ALENE — A 40-year-old registered sex offender from Coeur d’Alene who had an internet relationship with a 12-year-old girl in New Jersey was sentenced to prison Wednesday for child pornography charges.

Jason C. McGovern will serve a fixed seven years in prison, with the remainder of a 22-year sentence imposed at the discretion of the Idaho Department of Correction.

First District Judge Cynthia K.C. Meyer heard testimony Wednesday from probation and parole officer Marla Howard, who said McGovern was a manipulative and passive-aggressive client who complied with the superficial requirements of supervision while viewing child porn online out of her department’s purview.

McGovern was convicted of having child porn in 2010 and served time twice in prison rehabilitation programs called riders before serving a two-year prison sentence in 2014. He continued to violate the terms of his probation after his release, according to testimony.

Howard called McGovern “surface compliant,” meaning he appeared to be following the rules while finding ways to break them

“He did things to make us believe he was in compliance,” Howard said. “He never had a period of time that he was compliant.”

After being released from prison, McGovern pretended to be a 14-year-old boy while using a teenage chat app online to contact a 12-year-old girl. He sent her a photograph of a penis, and when confronted by investigators, told them he was in love with the child.

Paul Farina, an investigator with the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit said parole rules required McGovern to live in a Sherman Avenue motel that doubles as transitional housing. McGovern slept in the room but spent his days downloading and viewing child porn at a Hayden residence on Walrose Loop.

Investigators found bags of young girls’ underwear in the trailer when they served a warrant there, as well as thousands of photos and videos on a variety of digital devices including cards, thumb drives and laptops.

Because McGovern pleaded guilty in the latest case to five of 10 child porn charges in exchange for a seven-year fixed sentence, deputy prosecutor Rebecca Perez asked the court to sentence McGovern to the seven years, but to add 43 years of indeterminate time.

The images recovered from McGovern’s devices, she said, showed children, including infants, engaged in sexual acts with adults and each other.

“These images are so horrific ... these children are undergoing such abuse,” she said. “We can’t tolerate this once, and certainly not twice.”

Deputy public defender Jeanne Howe, who objected throughout Wednesday’s sentencing to testimony and depictions of her client as being noncompliant to parole rules, and someone who failed to take responsibility, pointed to a series of facts that contradicted the testimony.

The state of Idaho has limited resources for serious sex offenders, she said.

“Mr. McGovern asked for help. He showed up. It’s been shown he’s accountable, he’s willing to participate,” Howe said. “I think what you saw was a very honest person … he recognizes that he struggles with this, and he needs help. He knows it’s not right.”

McGovern wasn’t charged with contacting the New Jersey victim, instead a report to police regarding the incident led to the investigation and Wednesday’s conviction.

Meyer said rehabilitation was less of a factor in her sentencing decision than protecting society from McGovern.

“As children, we’re afraid of monsters under the bed,” she said. “As adults, we’re afraid of monsters working in the dark of the internet. You are one of them.”