Jenn Rowell

jrowell@greatfallstribune.com

A Cascade County woman accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with a 15-year-old boy tried to enter an Alford plea in court Tuesday, but the plea was rejected by Judge John Kutzman.

An Alford plea is where a person proclaims he or she is innocent of the crime, but admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict.

Kathi Linn Pederson is facing eight charges including sexual abuse of children; evidence tampering; and three counts of unlawful transactions with children, a misdemeanor, for allegedly providing alcohol and cigarettes to the boy, as well as two other teens. The charges stem from a July 2015 police investigation and arrest. She was also charged with violating an order of protection obtained by a family member for allegedly calling the boy’s home from jail less than 24 hours after her first court appearance.

Pederson was 41 at the time of her arrest in July 2015.

If the Alford plea was accepted, the recommended sentence was 10 years suspended, meaning she’d be on probation for the duration of the sentence. Kutzman said that recommendation was too lenient for the nature of the crime.

In the plea agreement, the state would drop all charges other than attempted sexual assault in exchange for the Alford plea, which equates to a felony conviction.

On the stand, Pederson appeared emotional and asked the judge questions about what was involved in an Alford plea. At one point, she appeared confused about what would happen if she entered an Alford plea and her attorney, Ken Olson, explained to the court that he had had many conversations with his client about the details.

The victim’s mother asked the court to speak during the hearing and said they were “very upset” a plea deal was being discussed.

“I do not want something harsher than she deserves,” the mother said, “but it was a crime.”

The mother said the family wanted a jury verdict or for Pederson to admit guilt.

Kutzman said that when he heard an Alford plea was being considered, “I found that very troubling,” given the nature of the case. “It’s an offense where the community would demand full justice if the gender roles were reversed.”

Kutzman set a status hearing for Oct. 25 to come back and determine next steps in the case.

A detective with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office said the family had contacted the Great Falls Police Department about the Facebook conversations between Pederson and the victim, but police determined the crime happened in the county and referred the case to the CCSO.

The original charging document says a Homeland Security agent assumed the boy’s identity on Facebook, with his parents’ permission, and continued to communicate with Pederson. The document says Pederson indicated she was concerned she was being set up, but arranged a meeting with the boy anyway and promised to bring condoms.

The charging information says Pederson initially tried to blame the messages on her daughter, who knows the boy, but she eventually admitted to sending the messages and arranging the meeting. She also said she knew the boy was only 14 or 15 years old, according to documents.