Pocatello man sentenced to 40 years in prison for sex crimes with 5-year-old

POCATELLO — A man who was found guilty of lewd conduct with a minor following a July trial has been sentenced to prison.

Cody John Seward, 28, was convicted following a one-day trial, which included testimony from his now-7-year-old victim.

At an Oct. 30 hearing, Seward was sentenced to a prison term of 25 to 40 years by District Judge Rick Carnaroli.

During the hearing, a recording of which was obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, Carnaroli said he had a responsibility to protect those members of the community who are not able to protect themselves.

“Children need protection,” Carnaroli said. “I tend to be a little bit more protective of our children than some judges around the state — I’m not being critical of them but they have their own ideas within the broad limits of their discretion, of what’s appropriate and what’s not in a case like this.”

RELATED | Pocatello man facing life for alleged sexual acts with a 5-year-old

Seward was arrested in October 2021 following a police investigation that showed he blindfolded the 5-year-old victim and sexually assaulted her.

During the sentencing hearing, public defender Rilie Fry argued for a prison term of five to 15 years, citing Seward’s “extremely low” IQ of 65, which has rendered him disabled.

Fry mostly addressed the post-sentence investigation, part of which included one polygraph exam — of two conducted — in which Seward confessed to committing crimes against the victim, which were not included in the charges. Seward also confessed to committing crimes against other child victims.

The defense attorney said Seward’s cognitive ability made him easily manipulated into making false claims. Seward allegedly told his attorney that he was told admitting to additional crimes would get him a lighter sentence.

Prosecuting attorney Erin Tognetti called the polygraph examiner to testify.

Kirk Nelson said, during the hearing, he had conducted roughly 15,000 polygraph examinations during his 35 years in the industry. He testified that Seward’s belief he would get a lighter sentence with more admissions was a “misunderstanding.”

Nelson said he has always told his clients that their honesty could benefit them at sentencing.

Following Nelson’s testimony, Tognetti said she found it hard to believe Seward was so low-functioning cognitively that he could not determine right from wrong, while also being able to create lies about crimes that did not actually happen. She said, instead, she believed Seward told the truth once then immediately regretted it.

Tognetti then pointed to Seward’s home, where the crimes were committed. She said the jury was shown how the bedroom doors in the home were turned around, so they could be locked from the outside. The jury heard how Seward blindfolded the victim and manipulated her into performing a sexual act.

If he was so low-functioning he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong, she said, he would not have gone to such great lengths to conceal his actions.

Finally, Tognetti spoke about the victim, whom the attorney said could not fully understand, even now at 7 years of age, what had occurred.

“The jury convicted him because they knew exactly what that 7-year-old was describing, even if she didn’t,” Tognetti said, adding that the victim will reach a point when she will understand what happened. “She is going to be destroyed by what Mr. Seward did to her. … The trauma she has now — she has something worse waiting for her.”

Tognetti called that “the biggest tragedy” in this case, and recommended a prison sentence of 30 years to life.

Seward spoke briefly, saying simply, “I didn’t do it,” before adding that he “got messed up” during the first polygraph.

Carnaroli addressed Seward’s cognitive disabilities, saying, “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what is wrong.”

About the questions regarding information disclosed during the polygraph examination, Carnaroli said he was going to put the entirety of both exams aside, choosing instead to focus solely on the charges of which Seward was convicted.

“You have no right to steal the innocence of a child in that fashion,” the judge said, adding that he felt Tognetti’s recommendation was a lot but that Fry’s recommendation was “was not enough.”

Finally, he spoke about the victim, agreeing with Tognetti that she will eventually realize the extent of what occurred — that something down the road will trigger her memories and she will have to deal with it all over again.

“Days like today are not the best days to be sitting up here. And they’re certainly not the best day of your life, to be sitting down there. But one of the worst days of (your victim’s) life is yet to be realized by (your victim),” Carnaroli said. “Your conduct caused more harm … than you’ll ever know, than I’ll ever know, than anyone will ever know.”

He said Seward had no excuse or justification for his crimes and that Seward will never be able to properly compensate the victim. Due to Seward’s limited cognitive function, Carnaroli concluded, he is not a viable candidate for therapeutic treatment.

“I think you are in need of correctional treatment — it doesn’t matter what you think or what the state thinks,” Carnaroli said. “I don’t think treatment in the community is going to be helpful to you.”

In addition to the prison sentence, Carnaroli ordered Seward to pay $3,913.75 in fees, but waived all fines.

Following the hearing, Seward was remanded to the custody of the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office for transfer to the Idaho Department of Corrections.