Suspect waives hearing

The man accused in Kootenai County’s largest child pornography bust waived his preliminary hearing in 1st District Court on Friday.

Edmund D. Bergeman, 46, is charged with three counts of felony lewd conduct and a single count of rape. Though court documents identify four victims, investigators say they have identified as many as six victims who are minors.

As first reported on spokesmanreview.com, Bergeman gave up his right to a preliminary hearing during a brief court appearance Friday morning.

Though Bergeman, of Twin Lakes, is facing the same four charges as before, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Marty Raap said there are small changes in the complaint, including more exact dates for when the crimes allegedly occurred.

Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Friday that investigators are still working to identify all of the minors in pictures Bergeman had in his possession at the time of his arrest in November.

Thousands of pictures were taken into evidence, including some taken at Coeur d’Alene’s City Beach, parks, schools and businesses, Wolfinger said. “Those aren’t crimes, so we haven’t focused on that,” he said, when asked if investigators had specific locations where the pictures were taken. “Creepy, yes. Criminal, no.”

As for the computer hard drives and disks containing alleged child pornography, Wolfinger said investigators are waiting for information from the state’s forensics lab. Wolfinger said two detectives have been working full time on the case since Bergeman was arrested Nov. 16.

He was arrested after a relative went to his home to pick up her 8-year-old daughter and discovered the girl dressed in a “provocative costume,” authorities say. At the home, the mother discovered another girl, a 9-year-old, was nude, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators found “provocative outfits for children,” lingerie, camera equipment and computers in Bergeman’s car.