Cody Holum, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – An 18-year-old Doniphan man was sentenced Feb. 12 to 20 years to 40 years in prison for each of four first-degree sexual assault charges, with the sentences to run consecutive to each other.
Because the sentences are to be served consecutive to each other, Cody Holum’s sentence is equivalent to 80 years to 160 years in prison.
Hall County District Judge Andrew Butler also sentenced Holum, 18, to 40 years in prison for human trafficking. That sentence can be served at the same time as the other sentences.
Hall County Attorney Marty Klein was the prosecutor. Hall County Public Defender Vicky Kenney represented Holum.
Holum’s case involved a series of extortion acts where he threatened to publish sexually explicit photos unless victims engaged in sexual acts.
When charges were first filed against Holum, he faced 48 sex-related charges.
He entered a plea agreement in Hall County District Court on Nov. 26, 2024.
Holum pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree sexual assault and one felony count of human trafficking. In exchange, 12 charges were dismissed. Three of the four sexual assault charges occurred in 2023, and the other occurred in 2021. The human trafficking charge occurred in June 2023. In the most recent filing of charges (the fourth amended complaint) against Holum, he faced 17 charges. Also, an Adams County Court case was dismissed.
The human trafficking of a minor charge states that Holum “knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, or obtained, … by any means a minor; for the purpose of having such minor engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of pornography, or knowing the minor will be subjected to forced labor or services.”
The first-degree sexual assault charge states that Holum “subjected another person to sexual penetration without consent of the victim, or, subjected another person to sexual penetration and knew or should have known that the victim was mentally or physically incapable of resisting or appraising the nature of his or her conduct.”
