Plea deal reached in Doniphan sextortion case

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - A Doniphan teen accused of blackmailing female victims has taken a plea deal in Hall County District Court.

Cody Holum, 18, appeared in court on Tuesday where he pleaded no contest to four felony first-degree sexual assault charges and one felony human trafficking charge.

As part of the agreement, 12 other charges were dropped.

He had faced a total of 48 separate charges but earlier this year, the judge dismissed most of them, leaving only 17 against Holum.

Holum is accused of threatening to expose nude photos of victims unless they agreed to have sex with him or provide him with more photos. The charging documents indicate the crimes occurred between April 2019 and October 2023 against 13 separate victims.

Holum’s attorney had tried to get the case moved to juvenile court but District Judge Andrew Butler denied the move.

In his ruling on the juvenile court question, Butler pointed to the seriousness of the charges against Holum and wrote in part. “...his actions clearly are a threat to public safety, and he absolutely understood and knew what he was doing while contacting the multiple victims.”

Judge Butler ruled there was not enough time to rehabilitate him in the juvenile system before he reached adulthood. He wrote in part, " Mr. Holum needs the assistance of a professional, but the Court recognizes that just over a year for rehabilitation is not sufficient for Mr. Holum and a period beyond his minority is needed...” He went on to write Holum’s “actions are more than just the impulsivity of a juvenile that can be addressed in a juvenile court.”

Holum will be sentenced on January 29 at 3:30 p.m.