Woman gets 25 years, 20 suspended in sex assault of teen

A woman guilty of attempted sexual assault was sentenced Friday to 25 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with 20 years suspended.

Kathi Pederson, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual assault in December in a plea deal in which the county attorney’s office recommended a 10-year sentence with the Montana Department of Corrections.

Pederson was arrested in 2015 for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old boy.

As part of the sentencing handed down by Cascade County District Judge John Kutzman, Pederson will be a designated a Tier 1 sex offender and will undergo sexual offender treatment in the inmate portion of her sentence with the Department of Corrections.

“Hollywood, through famous characters like Ms. Robinson and Stiffler’s mom would have us believe that what Mrs. Pederson tried to do here was a young man’s dream come true,” Kutzman wrote in his sentencing. “Several months ago when the Court rejected the first plea agreement in this case, it said it thought the community would demand actio nif the gender roles were reversed here. Nothing has changed.”

Cascade County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Van Dyken testified Friday about the series of events before and after Pederson’s arrest. After the boy’s parents contacted law enforcement regarding Pederson’s communications on Facebook, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Department Homeland Security “assumed the boy’s online identity” and continued communications until her arrest.

Van Dyken testified that Pederson had sent the boy messages like “I’m naked,” and at one point wanted to visit him so she could “steal a kiss or two.” Once, at Pederson’s home, she brought the boy up to her room and told him to touch and fondle her over her clothing, Van Dyken said.

Homeland Security agents arrested Pederson at a location where she had asked the agent, at that time posing as the boy, to meet. When detectives spoke with Pederson, she reportedly said it was her daughter who had been communicating with the boy.

Van Dyken said twice after being arrested, Pederson reached out to the boy by phone, which led to another charge, tampering with evidence. That charge was dropped in the plea agreement signed late last year.

Van Dyken also testified that Pederson had been accused of sexually abusing minors before, in New Mexico before their family lived in Montana. Those charges were never filed because the boy would not admit to the alleged interactions, Van Dyken said.

The boy’s mother also gave a victim statement at the sentencing hearing. She said the interactions from 2015 terrified her, but she was glad things did not escalate further.

“We were so in fear of what had happened ... what could have happened,” she said.