It took a jury less than an hour on Thursday to convict Coby John Edwards, 27, Berthold, of sexually abusing a little girl between 2016 and 2018.

Edwards could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced for the Class AA felony gross sexual imposition charge.

North Central District Judge Doug Mattson ordered Edwards held without bond and ordered a pre-sentence investigation and a sex offender evaluation prior to the sentencing. The sentencing date has not yet been set.

Edwards went to trial on the charge on Tuesday in district court in Minot.

During the trial, the six-year-old victim testified that Edwards had touched her in her lower parts. The girl’s foster mother made a report to social services in February 2018 after the girl made a disclosure when she saw the woman changing the diaper of a baby boy. Twenty days later, the girl was interviewed by a forensic interviewer at the Northern Plains Children’s Advocacy Center in Minot. The video of that interview, conducted when the girl was five-years-old, was played in the courtroom during the trial. The girl told the interviewer that Edwards had “wiggled” with her on a bed and it hurt. She said he did this multiple times. She told a nurse practitioner who examined her in February 2018, “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you, but I will. It hurts to pee when (Edwards) wiggles with me.” The nurse practitioner found no physical signs of sexual abuse, but testified on Wednesday that this is not unusual. No physical trauma is detected in about 95 percent of cases if a physical exam is conducted more than 72 hours after an assault.

On Wednesday, two men who had been incarcerated with Edwards at the Ward County Jail testified that Edwards talked with them about the abuse. One of the men, Richard Arnold, testified that Edwards asked Arnold to have his girlfriend conduct research on the internet about physical signs left behind by such abuse. Arnold testified he didn’t ask his girlfriend to do this research. Edwards testified on Thursday morning that he had communicated with Arnold’s girlfriend himself. His defense attorney, Kevin McCabe, said in his closing argument that Edwards was conducting research for the defense.

Arnold also testified Wednesday that Edwards told him he wasn’t guilty of gross sexual imposition, which Edwards believed meant force was used, but that he might be guilty of a lesser crime. Edwards’ former cellmate Justin Thornton testified Wednesday that Edwards claimed innocence but said the only way it could have happened is if the little girl had snuggled up to Edwards in bed when he was sleeping naked.

The girl’s mother had testified during the trial that the girl was in the care of Edwards and his former girlfriend, Skylar Picconatto, 21, for extended periods of time between 2016 and 2018. Both the girl’s mother and Picconatto testified Thursday that Edwards was open about nudity and had sex every day with a girlfriend at the times a woman was living with him. Edwards also believed in open relationships, according to testimony at the trial.

On Thursday morning, Edwards took the stand – against his lawyer’s advice – and denied that he had sexually abused the child. The defense attempted to explain the girl’s allegations by saying she had been exposed to nudity and adults having sexual relations in her home. Edwards testified that he often walked around naked around the house and children in the household had seen him unclothed. Edwards also testified that the girl had walked in on him having sex with his girlfriend on at least three occasions. He testified that the girl was curious and he talked with her about sex. After she walked in on them, Edwards testified that he had his girlfriend take the child out of the room right away and afterwards took the outside of the doorknob off his bedroom door so the girl could not open it. He said the girl had just turned five when she walked in on him with his girlfriend.

Picconatto, who had originally been charged with Class A felony gross sexual imposition and had also been accused of sexually abusing the girl, pleaded guilty last month to a lesser charge of Class C felony deprivation of a minor. With time served, Picconatto ended up serving a year in jail and is on three years of supervised probation. Picconatto testified for the defense on Thursday and said she never saw Edwards do anything sexual with the child.

The girl’s mother, who has had custody of the child since April 2018, said the girl talked about the abuse when she first went to live with her mother and the mother had noticed some acting out. On one occasion, the mother testified, the girl told her that Edwards shot her in the foot with a BB gun because she wouldn’t stop talking. The girl showed her mother a scar on her foot. The girl has also told that story to a person she encountered in the store. The mother testified that the girl no longer talks about the abuse. The mother testified the girl is “brave” and a good girl and has been enjoying summer activities.

The prosecution had asked Mattson to allow the girl to testify via closed circuit television on Wednesday, but Mattson had denied the request because he said the state hadn’t proven the girl would be so traumatized by seeing Edwards that she could not communicate. In court on Wednesday, the girl clutched a teddy bear while she testified loudly and clearly that Edwards had touched her lower parts.

When McCabe began to cross examine her, he first told her she looked “very pretty.” The girl thanked him. She then testified that she does not remember Edwards’ name and said she could not point him out in the courtroom. Edwards had gotten a haircut before trial and trimmed his red beard and was wearing a shirt and tie. He did not look the way he had when the girl last saw him a year and a half ago.

McCabe had argued in his closing argument that the girl was coached by the prosecution and the forensic interviewer had asked her leading questions. Special prosecutor Kelly Dillon called the implication that the girl was coached “an insult.”