The State Supreme Court has upheld Coby Edwards’ conviction in a Class AA felony gross sexual imposition case.

Edwards, 28, Berthold, was convicted last year in district court in Minot of Class AA felony gross sexual imposition. He sexually abused a preschool girl between 2016 and 2018. Judge Doug Mattson sentenced him in January to 40 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, and 10 years of supervised probation.

Edwards appealed to the supreme court. He argued that the conviction should be overturned because a psychologist his team retained never testified at his trial about the accuracy of a child’s memories. The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the conviction should stand and there was no reversible error committed by the judge during the trial.