Pennington County, MN (trfnews.i234.me) – An East Grand Forks man was sentenced Monday, April 15 in Pennington County District Court for possessing a total of four pornographic images of two girls.
Kevin Wayne Cota, 45, was sentenced for four felony counts of possession of pornographic work involving minors. Judge Tamara Yon had previously convicted Cota of the charges after a court trial.
Since the first three counts essentially involved the same behavioral incident, Yon imposed one sentence. For those counts, he was sentenced to 24 months in prison and stayed for 10 years.
For the other felony count, which involved a separate behavioral incident, Cota was sentenced to 36 months in prison and stayed for 10 years. As a condition of the sentences, Cota was given credit for 224 days served. The latter sentence is to be served concurrently with the prior sentence.
In addition, Cota was ordered to comply with all conditions of his psychosexual evaluation. He was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors or vulnerable adults unless that contact was approved by his probation officer and treatment team. However, Cota is allowed to have contact with his biological children. He was ordered to register as a predatory offender. Cota was ordered to not enter any parks, playgrounds or school property unless it has been approved by his probation officer. Other conditions apply.
According to court documents, the charges stemmed from a March 20, 2023, report from a mother who sought a harassment/restraining order or protection order against Cota because he had been messaging the woman’s daughter. The woman allowed the police investigator to look at her daughter’s phone. He found Facebook Messenger and Snapchat messages between Cota and the girl. Some of the messages included Cota telling the girl, “I love you the most” “Baby, you’re always in my mind,” and “Just give me your forever.” One message featured a heart and music with him typing, “You are all that a woman should be, and I dedicate my life to you always.”
The police investigator also saw messages in which the two of them professed their love for one another. Cota, who lived in St. Hilaire at the time, told the girl that he could be their driver, but he had better not get into trouble. Cota referred to a funny feeling that he would get in trouble. He called the girl his lucky charm. The two of them also sent each other selfies and told each other good night.
Law enforcement spoke with other minors and learned from multiple sources that he provided many minors with alcohol, marijuana, and vaporizer paraphernalia for free. The investigator conducted additional interviews, learning Cota had multiple cameras in his home and had taken photos of fully clothed girls after they had passed out.
The investigator obtained a search warrant for Cota’s Facebook data. Upon reviewing the data, he found four nude images of another girl. “One of the photos shows [the girl’s] breast area, two photos show [the girl] rubbing her breasts with soap, and the fourth photo shows [the girl] pouring soap onto her breast area with her tongue sticking out,” according to the complaint. Two other photos featured her backside.
After seeing the images, the police investigator and other law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for Cota’s home. Afterward, Cota spoke with law enforcement. He denied buying tobacco, nicotine, alcohol, or drugs for any minors.
When shown a picture of the other girl, Cota positively identified her and said she was 14 years old. He said the photo had been taken in summer 2022 when the girl would have been 13. Law enforcement doesn’t know the identity of the photographer.
While reviewing the Facebook data, the investigator also found an image of a third girl, who was 12 or 13, who was lying on a bed and touching one of her exposed breasts.
