Portland Man Gets 11 Years in Prison for Child Sex Crimes

Cohron was communicating with minors online for sexually explicit purposes.

59-year-old David Arnold Cohron, of Portland, received an 11 year prison sentence after being convicted of child sex crimes.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that 59-year-old David Arnold Cohron, of Portland, received an 11 year prison sentence after being convicted of child sex crimes.

After a change of plea hearing, held last week, the court convicted Cohron of:
one count of attempting to use a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, one count of online sexual corruption of a child in the second degree, one count of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree and one count of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree.

During this investigation, law enforcement learned Cohron had sexually explicit online communications with multiple children across seven different states.

Law enforcement determined Cohron encouraged and compelled each minor to send him sexually explicit photos, videos and other sexually explicit materials that the minors had self-produced using a texting application. During their online communications, all of the victims told Cohron their true age, making it clear they were minors.

Cohron used flattery, manipulation and other tactics, including threatening the victims in order to get them to provide him with sexually explicit material.

This investigation started in April of 2019 when law enforcement in North Carolina contacted the Portland Police Bureau about concerns that an unknown individual, later determined to be Cohron, was communicating with minors online for sexually explicit purposes.

“Children and teenagers, just like adults, are reliant on electronic communications more than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of online apps available today continues to push social networking into new territory. While there are many benefits to these platforms, there are real dangers when people use these apps for explicit and illegal purposes.
I am proud of the nationwide law enforcement effort involved in this case to identify the suspect, collect the digital evidence and have the case submitted for prosecution,” said Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.

This case was prosecuted by Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney BJ Park. The case was investigated by the Portland Police Bureau’s Family Services Division/Child Abuse Team.

Source: Multnomah Co. District Attorney's Office