Enticing a child sentencing delayed

COEUR d’ALENE — A Washington man, who told the court he was trying to outsmart a caller who tried to exploit him, could serve up to 15 years in prison for enticing a child over the internet.

Chavis W. Jackson, 31, was found guilty of the felony in March by a jury, but he has attempted to have the verdict thrown out, and last month was denied an acquittal by First District Judge Richard Christensen.

Since then, three sentencing hearings including one scheduled Monday and, again today, were vacated.

Jackson was charged last August after he allegedly made contact with a law enforcement officer posing on Craigslist as a 14-year-old girl looking for a relationship with an older man.

Jackson, who was completing a radiology residency at Providence Sacred Heart when the charge was filed, was arrested Aug. 27 and released from the Kootenai County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

According to police, Jackson replied to a police-placed ad on Criagslist that appeared as a 14-year-old girl, “looking for an older mature experienced guy to teach me the ropes.”

He and police, as well as a special agent posing as the girl sent text messages back and forth, including photographs. Jackson agreed to meet the girl at the Springhill Suites in Coeur d’Alene where he was arrested.

In testimony before a jury, Jackson said he had in the past posted and replied to many sexually-oriented Craigslist ads, including ads with photographs, some sexually explicit.

Often ads are placed using phony pictures and information, he said.

“I didn’t think I was talking to someone who was underage,” he said.

In the motion for acquittal, defense attorney Jason Johnson said he believed the state hadn’t met its burden to show his client “believed the person to be under the age of 14 or 16.”

Johnson said the state must prove, “what the defendant believed,” because, “Passions are inflamed in cases like these, the state didn’t meet their burden to prove what Mr. Jackson believed.”

Prosecutors however argued that the evidence had persuaded a jury, and that Jackson drove to Coeur d’Alene from Spokane to meet with a young girl at a hotel.

“We know what someone was thinking based on their words and conduct,” deputy prosecutor Laura McClinton said. “We don’t have a crystal ball.”

Jackson’s rationale didn’t align with his actions, she said.

“We know the defendant testified he thought this was a game he wanted to out the person setting him up,” she said.

Christensen said the jury, after hearing all the evidence, made a decision he wasn’t about to second-guess.

“The court is not to substitute its own judgment for that of a jury,” the judge said. “The jury weighed the evidence in this case, and judged the credibility of the defendant on the stand. It was up to the jury to determine if the burden had been met.”

A new sentencing date has not been set.