A 29-year-old Cheyenne man raped a child and possessed pornographic videos and pictures involving infants and toddlers is spending the next 60 years in prison.
Cody Lee Foster was sentenced Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming to the 60-year term and a lifetime of supervised probation to follow.
The family of his child victim called him a monster.
“When we think of monsters, we think of the ones in the movies, hiding in the shadows and under our beds,” says a statement the family furnished to the U.S. Attorney’s Office ahead of the sentencing hearing. “We don’t think about the ones that could be in our close friend group. In August of last year, someone our family and many others loved and trusted was revealed as one of those monsters.”
An accompanying statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Foster was a “trusted friend” of the victim’s mother.
The family’s statement says there’s no punishment harsh enough to match the damage and trauma Foster has caused and the suffering he inflicted on their child.
“Today, we know that justice has been served and we can sleep better and safer knowing that Cody Lee Foster will never be able to hurt another child or family again,” says the statement.
The family thanked the FBI’s Operation Rescue Me/ Endangered Child Alert program, the local FBI agents and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents for acting quickly; and the U.S. Attorney’s office for prosecuting the case.
Trusted Friend
A grand jury indicted Foster in September 2023, and he pleaded guilty one month later to six counts of producing child pornography and one of possessing it, says the prosecutor’s statement.
The court has scheduled a June 3 hearing to determine what amount of restitution Foster must pay toward the victim’s care and treatment.
The investigation started Aug. 9, 2023, when Cheyenne FBI agents learned via the Operation Rescue Me team that newly-produced child pornography had surfaced on a dark web thread involving a potential victim in Cheyenne.
DCI’s task force investigating internet crimes against children teamed up with the FBI to investigate the images they’d received from the tip line.
“The investigation led agents straight to Cody Foster, a trusted friend of the victim’s mother,” says the statement. “Foster exploited their relationship to gain access to the prepubescent child victim.”
A search of his home and devices uncovered hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, including sadomasochistic activity involving infant and toddlers, the statement says.
The statement says agents also discovered images and videos of the victim matching those they received through the tip line.
The material “clearly showed the rape and sexual abuse of the prepubescent child victim by Foster,” the statement says, adding that Foster has a distinct tattoo on his wrist that appeared in the pictures and videos he produced.
Agents arrested Foster within 24 hours of receiving the tip.
“Our office has no higher responsibility than the protection of children from sexual exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas Vassallo in the statement. “This defendant’s conduct was utterly reprehensible, but swift action by law enforcement put an end to it, and the 60-year sentence imposed by the court will prevent him from causing further harm to our community.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek called the case horrific, and said he hopes the sentence will deter others, though “no sentence will fully heal the trauma of this victim.”
DCI director Ronnie Jones expressed gratitude for the good working relationship between the different law enforcement agencies, and the dedication of professionals and prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christyne Martens prosecuted the case.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
