Grand Forks man sentenced to less than a year in prison for child porn possession

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) - A Grand Forks man will serve 359 days in prison, less than a year, for possession of child pornography.

Nicholas Jon Kidwell, 39, was charged with five counts of Class C felony child pornography possession in June 2022, but last month he pleaded guilty to one count.

Court documents say that Kidwell was granted a plea agreement that dismissed the four remaining counts, on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

In the plea agreement, the state recommended a five-year sentence, with 20 months served in prison. The defense rebutted and recommended 360 days, with up to 180 served in custody, and Kidwell requested that some of his sentence to be served through electronic home monitoring.

Court records say that Kidwell was sentenced to 360 days, first serving 359 at the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Due to this being less than a year of serving in custody, Kidwell’s felony charge becomes a misdemeanor.

Kidwell has credit for one day. He’s required to report to the Traill County Sheriff’s Office by 5 p.m. on Oct. 11 to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Kidwell is also required to register as a sex offender and will be on supervised probation for three years.