Coos Bay man sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for sexually abusing minors

EUGENE, Ore. A Coos Bay, Oregon, man was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for taking sexually explicit photographs of a minor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon reported Wednesday.

Willard Verdell Cowan, 61, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison followed by life supervised release.

Starting in early 2021, Cowan offered to talk to a minor who was having frequent panic attacks, according to court documents. Instead, he took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability by providing her with alcohol and marijuana before sexually assaulting her. Cowan continued to sexually abuse the victim, occasionally recording the abuse and requesting sexually explicit images from the minor, until his arrest in March 2023.

On February 16, 2023, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned a two-count indictment charging Cowan with sexually exploiting a child and distributing child pornography.

On August 21, 2024, Cowan pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a child.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Coos County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Jeffrey S. Sweet in coordination with the Coos County District Attorney’s Office.

More information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon:

Anyone with information regarding physical or online abuse of children is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at: tips.fbi.gov.

The FBI CETF conducts sexual abuse investigations, most of which are undercover, in coordination with federal, state, and local law enforcement. In addition to identifying and apprehending individuals who target children, CETF is committed to rescuing and assisting victims of sex trafficking and child exploitation.

Federal law defines child pornography as visual depictions of sexually explicit sexual conduct involving a minor. It is important to remember that child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes committed against children. These images and videos not only document the exploitation and abuse of victims, but when shared online, they re-victimize and re-traumatize child victims with each view of the abuse. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. www.missingkids.org.

This case was filed as part of the Safe Childhood Project, which was launched nationwide by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about the Safe Childhood Project, please visit: www.justice.gov/psc.