East Idaho News
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Man sentenced to prison for molesting child and 4,000 images of child sexually exploitative material
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July 1, 2026
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32:15Now PlayingA 24-year-old man will spend at least a decade in prison after being convicted of molesting a young girl and possessing over 4,000 pictures and videos of child sexually exploitative material.
Lukes Birch was sentenced on Tuesday by retired Senior District Judge Joel Tingey to 12 years fixed and 18 years indeterminate, giving him a potential 30-year prison sentence.
He will be required to register as a sex offender and pay at least $3,591 in court fines and fees.
Birch was initially charged with 10 felony counts of possessing child sexually exploitative materials and one felony count of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16.
In March, Birch signed a plea agreement, where he agreed to plead guilty to one count of felony lewd conduct with a child and one count of felony possession of child sexually exploitative material, in exchange for the prosecution agreeing to drop the remaining charges.
One of Birch's relatives spoke to the court in his support at the beginning of the hearing, saying he is "loyal to a fault" and that she believes he "still has the chance to be someone."
"(If) you ask him for help, he's going to be there, to the point that even up to when he was put in jail, he was helping his grandmother, who has COPD, he was helping her clean her house," said the relative. "He also has an amazing capacity to want to do more, to learn more, to be more, to try his hardest, even when things come really hard to him."
Jeff Nye, a prosecutor with the Idaho Attorney General's Office, asked the relative whether they were aware of the kinds of things Birch had pleaded guilty to, to which they stated they did not know much about it.
"To be honest, I don't quite understand specifically everything that has happened. I recognize the charges, and I recognize that those charges are not something to be proud of," said the relative. "What I know is that he may have done something and has charges pressed against him."
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