Seeley Lake man gets eight years in prison for receiving child pornography

A Seeley Lake man will be behind bars for the next eight and a half years after he pleaded guilty in July to receiving child pornography.

Charles Lief Isaacson, 62, was first arrested by Missoula County after he allegedly thought he was messaging a 14-year-old girl on social media, who he planned to have sex with, in 2022. Isaacson still has two charges against him for Sexual Abuse of Children active in Missoula District Court.

U.S Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced on Nov. 8 that an investigation stemming from Missoula County's sting operation found that Isaacson had been viewing child pornography from a Facebook group called "sweet kids."

A release from the U.S. Attorney's Office said Isaacson also reached out to members of the group outside of Facebook to avoid detection from law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy presided over the case.

After he finishes serving time in prison, Isaacson will be monitored by the state for the following 10 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Lowney prosecuted the case, the release said. The Missoula County Sheriff's Office and FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation.

The release added that the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Isaacson was first investigated by Missoula County after he started messaging with an undercover deputy online. According to charging documents, he sent many sexually explicit messages to Missoula County Deputy Travis Wafstet.

While deputy Wafstet told Isaacson he was 14 online, Isaacson continued to message the account, saying that the fictitious 14-year-old was "gorgeous," "beautiful," "hot" and "fine," according to charging documents.

Isaacson arranged to meet deputy Wafstet in Missoula last year, where he was arrested on Oct. 22, 2022. After getting detained, Isaacson said he was not planning to have sex with the fictitious minor.

Isaacson lived within a block of Seeley Lake Elementary and was a volunteer firefighter, according to previous Pathfinder reporting. He has pleaded not guilty to the two counts of Sexual Abuse of Children, and his next hearing on that matter is on Nov. 22.