COEUR D’ALENE, ID – Three men from North Central Idaho have been sentenced in separate federal child exploitation cases, receiving a combined total of more than 40 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.
U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced Wednesday that the sentences stem from three unrelated investigations involving attempted sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
In the first case, 42-year-old Jesse Eugene Burnett of Lewiston was sentenced to 300 months — 25 years — in federal prison for attempted sexual exploitation of a child. Court records show the investigation began in April 2024 after a mother reported that her 10-year-old daughter had been exchanging sexually explicit images with an adult male through a messaging application. Although the child initially told the man she was older, investigators said Burnett acknowledged that she appeared young. After law enforcement took over communications, Burnett continued to request explicit images even after being told the child was underage. Burnett was arrested in June 2024 and later admitted he believed he was communicating with a child. He was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release and will continue to be required to register as a sex offender.
In a second case, 26-year-old Nathanael Dewayne Jensen of Moscow was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for possession of CSAM. According to court documents, law enforcement received multiple CyberTips in August 2024 from online platforms reporting CSAM activity tied to certain accounts. Investigators linked those accounts to Jensen and later found CSAM images and videos on his cellphone during a court-authorized search. Authorities also determined Jensen had exchanged CSAM with another user. Jensen was sentenced to 15 years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.
In the third case, 36-year-old Riley Neal O’Brien of Culdesac was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for possession of CSAM. Court records show the investigation began in June 2022 following a CyberTip from a social media company. Investigators determined O’Brien possessed CSAM images and videos and distributed such material more than 70 times over a two-month period in 2022. O’Brien was sentenced to five years of supervised release and will also be required to register as a sex offender.
All three cases were prosecuted in U.S. District Court before Judge David C. Nye. Federal prosecutors credited multiple local and federal law enforcement agencies for their roles in the investigations, including police departments in Lewiston and Moscow, the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
