Radiologist sentenced for Cd'A child enticing incident

A 31-year-old Spokane radiologist was sentenced Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene to up to seven years in prison for child enticing, although First District Judge Richard Christensen retained jurisdiction, allowing Chavis W. Jackson to participate in a rehabilitation program before being considered for probation.

After listening to impassioned pleas from both the prosecutors and defense, Christensen said the pieces didn’t align.

“This has been a troublesome case,” the judge said. “The parts all don’t fit.”

Jackson was found guilty by a jury of enticing a child under 16 by the use of the internet, but the defendant, a medical doctor with impeccable references, family support and no prior criminal record, continued to maintain his innocence.

Jackson was completing a radiology residency at Providence Sacred Heart last August when he made contact with law enforcement posing on Craigslist as a 14-year-old girl looking for a sexual relationship with an older man.

Jackson drove from Spokane to the Springhill Suites in Coeur d’Alene to meet the girl, who he said he thought was an older woman.

The sting operation netted a number of suspects and Jackson was arrested Aug. 27 and released from the Kootenai County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Deputy prosecutor Rebecca Perez asked the court Tuesday to imprison Jackson because he was a threat to children, while defense attorney Jason Johnson took the prosecutor’s arguments as an affront to his client’s integrity.

Perez read excerpts of sexually explicit text message conversations police found, along with photographs, on Jackson’s cellphone, until Christensen cut her off.

The conversations lasted hours, Perez said.

“I can’t even say it out loud,” Perez said. “This is the kind of conversation he uses.”

Johnson read a list of modifiers others had used in letters to the court to describe Jackson.

“Dedicated, trustworthy, thoughtful, kind, mentor, selfless, a positive influence...,” Johnson said. “I want to paint a broader picture rather than the activities of one afternoon.”

Christensen said he was perplexed that someone of such learning would engage in the behavior that resulted in his arrest.

“You engaged in some really bizarre behavior,” he said.

Jackson appeared as someone with well above-average intelligence, a medical school graduate who, at least during the period of the sting showed “really poor judgment,” the judge said.

Christensen sentenced Jackson to three years fixed and four years indeterminate behind bars. If Jackson isn’t recommended for probation after serving his 6-month rider program, the sentence could be imposed.

“My hope is, I can put you on probation,” Christensen said.

Sentencing had been twice postponed in the case, and a Tuesday afternoon hearing had been vacated in favor of a hearing earlier in the day.