EVANSTON — A 27-year-old Evanston man was sentenced to 12-18 years in prison last week for possessing “a large volume” of child pornography on his home computer, including content that a 25-year law enforcement veteran said led him to seek therapy.

Raymond Sellers was facing 14 felony counts of exploitation of a child following his arrest on April 21, 2023. On Thursday, March 21, Sellers was sentenced for seven of those counts, while the remaining seven were dismissed through a plea deal.

Several people spoke at Thursday’s hearing, many in support of Sellers, beginning with his mother.

“My biggest desire in life was to be a mother,” Diane Sellers said, reading from a prepared statement.

She detailed her family’s early history — how she had no children from her previous marriage of five years and how she and her husband, Mike Sellers, couldn’t have children.

She said they adopted Raymond and his twin sister, who were born 13 weeks early. Raymond only weighed 2.2 pounds. At some points, they weren’t sure if he’d make it, she said.

“I watched miracle after miracle,” Diane Sellers said.

Within months of adopting the twins, the Sellers’ adopted the twins’ two older siblings.

Raymond was smart, she said, and taught himself to read by age 4. But he also suffered from night terrors, she said. Later they found out he had double vision that had gone untreated for years and required two surgeries “to mostly fix it.”

She said they later found out that their oldest son had substance abuse issues and was a sexually abusive. He spent time in jail and, eventually, prison.

“Raymond is different,” Diane Sellers said, adding that her son wants to accept responsibility and pay his own way. “Despite the difficulty over the past year, he’s grown and progressed. Raymond is not a lost cause.”

She said someone visited her Wednesday night and said that seeing what Raymond is going through helped him change his life for the better.

She ended her comments by asking Third District Court Judge James C. Kaste to give Raymond a “new lease on life” and sentence him to probation.

Mike Sellers, who serves on the Evanston City Council, spoke next in support of his son, Raymond.

He began by talking about the difficulties of adoption and Raymond’s early childhood.

“We have a tremendous love for our children — all of them,” Mike Sellers said. … “We found ourselves dealing with substance abuse issues, sexual abuse…”

He said Raymond’s been willing to step up and help whenever he needs it. “He’s an amazing worker,” he said.

Mike Sellers said that, when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, he hoped Raymond could take over the family real estate business in the future.

“Raymond has started to build his own business and is continuing that legacy,” he said.

Therapy and counseling are helping, he said. Raymond is working with two therapists. He’s keeping appointments and keeping the rules.

Sellers said his family has been shunned, at times, since his son’s arrest. But more often, Mike Sellers said, people have reached out to the family to support them and to tell them how much they care for Raymond.

Sellers repeated what his wife said earlier, and what the judge later acknowledged: “Raymond is not a lost cause.”

Mike Sellers said he’s willing to do anything his son needs to get through this, including logistical or financial needs, before ending with a final plea to Judge Kaste.

“I saw Dr. Eggert save Raymond’s life when he fit in the palm of my hand. You have the opportunity to save him again,” he said.

Robert Banta, a licensed clinical social worker who said he’s been working with Raymond Sellers for about 10 months, was next to address the court. Banta said he provides sex offender treatment for the Utah Department of Corrections and is based in Salt Lake City.

Banta said Raymond Sellers has gone to Salt Lake weekly, without missing appointments, and attends both individual and group therapy.

“I’ve been impressed with this young man,” Banta said. “I believe he has great family support. … He’s responded well to treatment and kept all the rules,” adding that Sellers sees avoiding pornography as a key to his life.

“He needs the support he’s getting,” Banta said. “I’m here to support him. … He is in dire need of continued treatment.”

One of Raymond Sellers’ siblings, Kyler Sellers, also spoke in support of leniency. “I have seen his growth,” he said, before sharing a tearful embrace with the defendant.

David Rohde, Raymond Seller’s brother-in-law, also spoke in support of the defendant.

“I find him to be one of the most positive influences on my life, even though I’m quite a bit older than him,” Rohde said.

Rohde said his wife is expecting a baby soon and they view having Raymond in the baby’s life as a positive thing.

Brook Fretwell, Raymond Sellers’ birth mom, also spoke at the hearing.

“I’ve seen this therapy do wonders for him,” she said. “… I don’t feel punishment is the answer.”

Raymond Sellers took the opportunity to address the court.

“I just want to start out by saying I’m sorry,” he said. He apologized to his family and the community. “The decisions I made made all of those children victims. … It can’t be undone. And I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

Sellers said he’s remorseful, “even though there was no direct victim.”

He said he now realizes how bad pornography can be and how bad it is for him in particular. He thanked his church and his bishop. He thanked his employer.

“If given the opportunity, I will be a contributing member of society,” he said.

Sellers said he knows he has a problem and that he’ll always have a problem.

Sellers’ attorney, Geoff Phillips, thanked all involved and acknowledge how difficult the situation was for everyone involved.

He said Raymond Sellers isn’t shying away from what he’s done. “He knows that it is horrible,” Phillips said.

He referred to the pre-sentencing investigation report written by Jay Hill of Probation and Parole. Hill wrote that Raymond Sellers could have chosen to be a victim; he had a lot of childhood trauma. Instead, Hill wrote, Sellers chose to accept responsibility for his actions.

“The defendant appears to have made the correct decision,” Phillips read from the report.

“Actions speak much more loudly than words,” Phillips said. “… [Raymond] is hitting the root of this problem head-on.”

Phillips then read again from Hill’s report.

“A term of imprisonment is not warranted in this case,” Phillips read.

Phillips ended with words of encouragement for his client.

“I was concerned, when I first started on this case, that Raymond might not make it out alive,” Phillips said.

He then asked his client to turn around and look at all of the people behind him who came to support him. Phillips said Sellers will see challenges no matter the sentencing, and he wants his client to remember all of the support he has.

Phillips then said to Kaste, “I strongly recommend the court follow [Hill’s recommendation of probation].”

Uinta County Attorney Loretta Kallas called Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Special Agent Joel Greene to testify on behalf of the state. Greene joined the hearing via videoconference.

Greene, who has decades of service as a law enforcement officer and works on the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, said he received a cybertip in 2021 about someone in Evanston downloading child pornography. However, due to limited information and file encryptions, no progress was made on that tip.

Then, Greene said, he received another cypertip in October 2022, which started the current investigation. Through subpoenas, they received information that led them to Raymond Sellers.

After investigating, DCI served a warrant in which they searched Sellers’ home and seized his computer, which Greene said contained 672 files depicting child exploitation. Greene said 396 files didn’t fit Wyoming’s definition of child pornography but were, rather, “child erotica.” Another 183 files depicted child sexual abuse with CGI characters or cartoons.

Greene testified that he prioritizes child exploitation cases based on the severity of the abuse depicted. Another factor in determining priority is whether the victims are pre-pubescent.

“I assessed it as priority No. 1,” Greene told the court.

He went on to describe some of the horrific videos found on Sellers’ computer.

“The vast majority of videos and images were pre-pubescent,” he said. “Toddler age.”

Greene said investigators found “numerous videos of pre-pubescent children ... being raped.”

Agent Greene said that, in his 25 years of experience, he’s seen thousands if not millions of illicit videos and images. But none of them prepared him for the first video he said he watched from Sellers’ computer.

“… It was more than I could take,” he said. “I had to seek counseling after that.”

Kallas asked Greene if he agrees that “there is no direct victim in a child sexual assault,” referring to the defendant’s earlier comments. Greene said that, of course, he doesn’t agree that there are no direct victims of child porn.

Kallas then asked Greene about the market for child pornography.

“If there wasn’t a want or a need [for it],” Green said, “there wouldn’t be men willing to perpetrate these crimes.”

Kallas pointed out that Raymond Sellers lied during his psychosexual evaluation, performed by Dr. Rick Hawks. Kallas even questioned the validity of the evaluation because Sellers downplayed the role child porn played in his life and lied about it during Hawks'  assessment.

“The person’s ability to admit what he’s done and accept responsibility is important,” Kallas said, adding that Sellers did not disclose “the nature and extent that he had gone down this path.”

Kallas emphasized that much of the material found on Sellers’ computer depicted violent, graphic sexual assaults … of “young, young children” being assaulted. She also revisited Greene’s assessment, saying there’s a reason the DCI agent categorized Sellers as “priority No. 1.”

Phillips rebutted Kallas’ claim that the psychosexual evaluation was invalid. He said Dr. Hawks was provided the entire case file and the evaluation came after Sellers had finally accepted the severity of his addiction and the crimes he committed.

Phillips, once again, told the court that probation is the most appropriate outcome.

Kaste said he appreciated those in attendance, acknowledging the difficulty for all involved.

“I can’t imagine how hard this is for you,” he said.

Addressing Raymond Sellers, Kaste said, “There’s been some variation in your comments,” referring to Sellers’ initial downplaying of his problem with child porn. “I do believe that you have genuine remorse.”

However, Kaste said, there are lots of factors to consider.

“I find it hard to disagree with most of what [Hill] said in the PCI report,” Kaste said. “You have done everything right since this matter came to light.”

Kaste said he believes Sellers has made a sincere effort to address his issues, and he’s mindful of the difficulties Sellers had had throughout his life.

Kaste again said he agreed with nearly all of Hill’s report, “except that probation is the appropriate [sentence],” he said.

“Your participation in this illicit trade of child pornography just perpetuates it,” Kaste said, calling the behavior intolerable. He acknowledged that Sellers may be headed in the right direction, but said that regardless how Sellers spends the rest of his day, he’s returning home to do something “deplorable in every way.”

Kaste also addressed the notion that there were no direct victims to Sellers’ crimes.

“You are participating,” he said. “We cannot allow this kind of thing to go on. There are real children on the other side of that video monitor.”

Kaste explained how the Wyoming Legislature has made it clear how serious these crimes are. Facing 14 felony counts of child exploitation could land someone in prison for the rest of his life, Kaste said.

He repeated what both parents said earlier, and agreed with them that Raymond is not a lost cause, adding, however, that “probation is not the answer here.”

Kaste then sentenced Sellers to five to eight years for one count of exploitation, and seven to 10 years for a second count. Those sentences will run consecutively, one after another, giving Sellers an effective sentence of 12-18 years in prison.

Kaste also sentenced Sellers to seven to 10 years for each of five counts of child porn, but those sentences will run concurrently with the previous 7-10 year sentence. Through the plea deal, the remaining seven charges were dropped.

The Uinta County Sheriff’s Office took Sellers into custody directly following Thursday’s hearing. He has 30 days to appeal.

*Correction * An earlier version of this story indicated that it was Dr. Jason Haack who administered Raymond Sellers' psychosexual evaluation. It was actually Dr. Rick Hawks who performed the evaluation.