Goyette gets prison time for child pornography charges

WALLACE — An Osburn man is looking at some possibly steep prison time after being sentenced last week for child pornography related charges.

The Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reports that Eric Goyette, 46, received at unified 15-year prison sentence (3-years fixed, 12 indeterminate) for making photographic recordings of a minor under 16 and distributing pornography to minors.

These charges stem from Goyette’s arrest on Aug. 8, 2018 following a report from a concerned parent about inappropriate electronic messaging on her child’s electronic device.

According to a news release from the Prosecutor’s Office, Osburn Police obtained a search warrant for the home and vehicle of Goyette after conducting follow-up interviews. It is in these places that they located numerous electronic devices and evidence corroborating the initial report.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement identified a pattern of behavior by Goyette which showed an ongoing use of electronic devices and social media messaging, such as Facebook messenger and other applications, to engage with minors about information of a sexual nature.

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine said that Goyette confessed to this conduct when interviewed by police and minimized his behavior by asserting that he was just conducting his own investigations.

Goyette initially denied the three child sexual abuse charges levied against him, but ended up accepting a deal and pled guilty to two of the three counts on Dec. 10, 2018.

At the sentencing last week before District Judge Scott Wayman, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Allen argued in support of a unified 15-year prison sentence, stating “this conduct and the contents of the communications between the defendant and the minors in this case are indicative of a man who suffers from severe mental illness and disturbance. This assertion is supported by the psychosexual evaluation in this case.”

Allen argued in support of the substantial prison sentence in order to protect society and deter others from engaging in this conduct.

Following statements from both legal teams, District Judge Scott Wayman agreed that a substantial prison sentence was necessary, but also weighed the fact that Goyette has no substantial criminal history and that the crimes were strictly pornographic- not involving a physical element.

According to Idaho State Law, the maximum penalty he could have received was up to 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each of the two charges he admitted to.

Oxendine was pleased with the sentence and stressed that the investigation was a team effort.

“The collaboration of the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and the Osburn Police Department was vital to the success of this investigation,” she said. “After the initial investigation, the Osburn Police Department assisted our office with extensive follow-up investigation in an effort to ensure that any potential victims were identified, and other agencies were made aware of any conduct that may have occurred in their jurisdictions. These cases are not easy to investigate and take an extensive amount of time and specialized training to complete. The successfulness of this case is entirely the result of collaborative efforts by our local law enforcement to combine resources for the protection of our community.”