CASPER — A 49-year-old Casper man apologized Tuesday for using “legal and illegal pornography” to deal with past trauma in his life.
His attorney asked for supervised probation, while his wife asked the court to consider house arrest.
But Natrona County District Court Judge Kerri Johnson said Matthew Nick Leslie’s plea deal with the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office in a case that involved thousands of images of child pornography — including bestiality and sadomasochism — was already a “pretty good deal.”
She sentenced him to between 13 and 16 years in prison on eight charges of sexual exploitation — four to six years on six counts and seven to 10 years on two other counts that depicted sadomasochism.
Johnson said she had debated whether to accept the plea agreement which capped Leslie’s sentence at 16 years or not.
But she said she weighed what jurors would have to go through seeing some of the images that were contained on CDs found in Leslie’ house.
“I will accept it,” she said.
District Attorney Dan Itzen who was arguing the case in place of his Chief Deputy Blaine Nelson told the judge that in preparing for the sentencing what struck him was the total 170,000 images of pornography that were in Leslie’s possession.
“That’s hard to wrap your head around,” he said. “That’s one-quarter of the people in the state of Wyoming.”
Itzen said the investigation showed that Leslie had collected them over the years and that there was child pornography involving 11- and 12-year-olds and many more involving infants, including those involving adults abusing infants while the baby’s ankles were tied together.
“Perhaps the most shocking is the bestiality,” he said. Itzen said the pre-sentence report that spoke of Leslie’s autism and other life issues were beside the point.
“Judge, no one has to be told (it’s wrong) to download images of children tied to a table to be abused by animals,” he said.
Itzen said other images depicted sodomy of infants and there was a total 3,400 images depicting infants and toddlers among the child pornography files.
Deal ‘More Than Lenient’
Itzen asked the court for a 14-to 16-year sentence, saying it was “more than lenient.”
Leslie’s wife told Johnson that she initially reported the child pornography to law enforcement and that her husband has been totally cooperative and sought counseling treatment for his behavior.
She said that he was sorrowful and that he had changed his life around and was a needed and positive influence in their daughter’s life.
She pointed out that the pre-sentence investigation found that her husband is at low risk to repeat his behavior and his employment was needed for the family.
“Today’s outcome will have a heavy impact on our family,” she said. “My husband is low risk and appropriate for probation.”
Leslie’s wife asked the court to consider “house arrest” if there needed to be a “symbolic” term of incarceration.
Leslie’s attorney Dan Hillshafer pointed out that his client had no prior criminal history, that the pre-sentence investigation shows remorse on his part and again talked about his daughter at home who needs him.
He asked the judge to consider supervised probation.
Leslie read a statement to Johnson and said that he was “deeply sorry and remorseful” for his actions in downloading and keeping the files.
“I feel lasting shame and guilt for what I did,” he said. Leslie said his daughter was growing up and he wanted to be in the home and “model” a strong supportive family.
Leslie alluded to an autism diagnosis and a past with trauma that led to to “chose legal and illegal pornography to cope.”
He said he acknowledged how his behavior affected the exploitation of children and could imagine as a parent something similar occurring to his child.
Investigation
Charges against Leslie stem from a 911 call by Leslie’s wife July 26, 2024, reporting that she found a compact disc that belonged to her husband that she believed contained child pornography.
Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded and later brought the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation into the case.
A supplemental arrest affidavit filed in the case shows that a DCI investigator uncovered 47 compact discs, and all but two of the images on them contained at least one file of child pornography.
The CDs contained more than 30,000 files depicting child pornography, the affidavit states. most from 2008 and 2009.
During the DCI investigation, court records show Leslie told police he started viewing child pornography in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
He denied ever distributing images or having hands-on contact with a child, the affidavit states.
An investigator asked Leslie during the investigation why he had the CDs containing child pornography just sitting in his basement.
“The best place to hide things is in plain sight,” he was quoted in the affidavit.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
