Boise man faced nearly a dozen child sex-crime charges. A judge just sentenced him
A 22-year-old Boise man who faced a litany of child sex crime charges in 2025 was sentenced this week and faces up to 25 years in prison after an Ada County judge deemed the need for “community protection” because of the nature of his crimes.
Konnor Austin was accused of 11 child sex-crime charges spanning four separate cases in 2025, including sexual exploitation of a child, lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and rape, court records show. In February, Austin took a deal and entered a guilty plea to two of those charges, and nine were dropped by prosecutors.
On Friday afternoon, 4th District Judge James Cawthorn handed down a 25-year sentence, with 10 years fixed in prison before Austin can be eligible for parole.
Austin was first arrested in May 2025 on charges of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16 and sexual exploitation of a child. Court records show that a few months later, two more cases opened against him, and he was charged with one count of exploitation of a child and six counts of possession of child sexually exploitive material.
In November 2025, Austin was then hit charges of possessing child sexually exploitive material and rape.
Austin pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing child sexually exploitive material and the lewd conduct charge as part of the plea deal. Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Ammon Judy requested a sentence of 25 years with 10 years fixed, which the judge ultimately agreed with.
Judy told the court that the abuse of one of the victims started when she was about 7, and that Austin had multiple victims and used the internet to “hunt his victims.”
“This defendant knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s done it for years,” Judy said. “Despite this defendant’s relatively young age, there’s a striking pattern of sexual abuse of children.”
Austin’s defense attorney, Edwina Elcox, requested a much lesser sentence, with a focus on treatment and rehabilitation. A psychosexual evaluation that Austin underwent found that he is “highly amenable for sexual offender treatment,” she told the court.
Elcox requested a sentence of 10 years total, with the first two in prison before eligibility for parole. Elcox also asked the court to consider ordering retained jurisdiction, which means a defendant goes through a treatment program with the Idaho Department of Correction, and once completed, the judge may decide whether to continue with the prison sentence or allow the rest of the time to be served through probation.
“If the court were to follow the state’s recommendation, understanding that that’s coming from a punishment component, prison would certainly expose Konnor to a population that has incredibly entrenched criminal thinking and would not afford him a necessary or a treatment component that he may otherwise get,” Elcox said at the hearing.
Cawthorn said retained jurisdiction was “not appropriate in this case.” He said the offense called for more consideration for community protection, punishment and deterrence.
Austin addressed the court with an apology to “all parties involved.”
“Words simply cannot describe how horribly I feel about how I treated other people,” Austin said. “I don’t know why, I don’t understand why I thought the way I did.” He also said he was “willing to accept all consequences.”
Cawthorn said evidence presented in court showed Austin possessed materials of sexually exploitive material of children and had more than one victim. The judge said the impact of the crimes “reverberates throughout the life of the victim and through their family and their loved ones.”
One of the victim’s parents spoke during the sentencing and asked the court to consider the harm done to the child and the family.
“What happened to my daughter is life-changing, this isn’t something that can ever be taken back, it’s something that she’s going to have to live with for the rest of her life,” the parent said.
