Spokane resident physician found guilty of enticing a minor over the internet

A resident physician at Providence Sacred Heart was found guilty Thursday of sexually enticing a child over the internet.

Chavis W. Jackson, 30, was arrested Aug. 27 in Coeur d’Alene as part of a child sex string operation, according to a police report.

Jackson responded to a casual encounters Craigslist ad posted by Coeur d’Alene Police. In the ensuing email exchange, an officer, who posed as a 14-year-old girl, told Jackson multiple times she was 14, according to a police transcript of the conversation.

Jackson, who spoke of sex acts in the online conversation, agreed to meet the underage girl at Springhill Suites by Marriott in Coeur d’Alene, where he was met by police.

He was interviewed, then booked into Kootenai County Jail and was released the next day after posting a $50,000 bond. Sentencing will be June 11. The crime has a 15-year maximum sentence. Jackson has no prior criminal history.

According to investigators, Jackson was caught in the same sex sting operation as former Coeur d’Alene Eagles president Ronald Nold, a 65-year-old man who allegedly agreed to meet a 15-year-old boy, who was actually an officer. Eight men were arrested in the sting at the Springhill Suites.

Jackson told a jury Wednesday that the online chat was part of a game he was playing and that he had no intention of having sex.

According to the Spokane Teaching Health Center website, Jackson was completing his radiology residency at Providence Sacred Heart.

Providence Sacred Heart chief medical executive Jeff Collins said Jackson was fired Friday.

“We take this situation very seriously and want to acknowledge and thank law enforcement for their dedication to this important issue,” Collins said. “Upon learning of the conviction, we took immediate action to terminate this resident’s employment.”

Jackson, a Boise native, graduated from the Arizona College of Osteopathy of Midwestern University. He also served a two-year Mormon mission after he graduated from Centennial High in 2005, where he was a two-time state champion wrestler.