News brief: Sexual exploitation case dismissed

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Criminal charges have been dropped against a 21-year-old Onalaska man arrested in September in connection with images uploaded by a 15-year-old girl to her Facebook account showing her unclothed private parts.

Cody M. Cothran, 21, was charged in Lewis County Superior Court with sexual exploitation of a minor and third-degree rape of a child.

Of particular interest to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was a photo of the girl with a penis in her mouth, and Facebook text messages allegedly between her and Cothran that suggested an intimate relationship. The information had been forwarded to the sheriff’s office from  the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm asked a judge last week to dismiss the charges against Cothran. They were dismissed without prejudice on Jan. 19, meaning the state could refile them at a later date, according to Bohm.

Bohm said she met with the girl a few times and just needed more time to investigate.

Cothran’s lawyer, defense attorney David Brown said the alleged victim recanted and said it didn’t happen.
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For background, read “Facebook: Onalaska resident arrested after photo alleged to be with underage girlfriend surfaces” from Friday September 30, 2016, here

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2017 at 4:55 pm and is filed under News briefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “News brief: Sexual exploitation case dismissed”

  1. Aric says:
    Monday, January 30, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    Actual photos of pedophilia on the internet isn’t proof?

  2. John says:
    Monday, January 30, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    Where was William Jefferson Clinton when the photo was taken?