A Kalispell man was set free on a 15-year, all-suspended prison sentence Thursday night, with plans to move to Thompson Falls, register as a sex offender, and enter sex offender treatment.

Flathead District Court Judge Stewart Stadler told Karl Cilroy Wortley, 34, that he was fortunate to receive the sentence, which resulted after Wortley had sexual interaction with undercover agents who posed as underage girls or parents of underage girls who were available for sex.

“You are damn lucky you got caught this way rather than after you had sex with a 12-year-old because you would likely be sent away for the rest of your life,” Stadler said.

Stadler’s decision to impose a suspended sentence came after much debate about whether or not Wortley was forthcoming in a psycho-sexual evaluation that was completed after Wortley pleaded guilty this spring.

Prosecutor Travis Ahner said he believed Wortley should be sentenced to 15 years in Montana State Prison, with 10 years suspended. Ahner said he believed Wortley was dishonest with the psychologist performing the mental evaluation.

He gave an example of where the psychologist said Wortley classified his interest in sex with a 12-year-old girl as an isolated incident. Ahner said this was concerning and untrue because Wortley actually was contacted by two separate undercover agents almost simultaneously about sex with two young girls.

In the first interaction — the one Wortley was charged for in court — Wortley responded to an ad posted by a fictional adult woman who was seeking sex. Once the conversation began, the fictional adult woman said she was the mother of a 12-year-old who was also available for sex.

Wortley told the psychologist performing the evaluation that he didn’t intend to act on the urges but Ahner said that contradicts statements Wortley gave officers when they asked about why Wortley showed up with condoms at the address to meet the 12-year-old.

Ahner said Wortley was also having conversations with a fictional girl who responded to an explicit Craigslist ad he had posted for sex that included an image of his genitalia. The officer posing as the girl told him she was 14 and too young.

Wortley allegedly said she was only too young if she thought she was too young. He later asked to meet the girl, and sent a message that he would be away from his computer because he was going to town on an errand. Wortley was arrested during the “errand,” Ahner said.

“He couldn’t meet the 14-year-old because he already had obligations to the 12-year-old,” Ahner said.

Ahner also found it concerning that Wortley told the psychologist that he thought sex with a 12-year-old was OK if the girl’s mother consented.

“He does need some time in prison,” Ahner said.

But public defender Vicki Frazier said Ahner had mischaracterized Wortley’s interaction with the fake 14-year-old. Frazier said Wortley’s messages were not explicit.

Frazier said she believes Wortley will not be back in jail and that he will follow conditions of probation. Stadler said he believed the sentence was in line with other suspended sentences handed down to four other men who were nabbed in the same undercover operation that was completed by the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in 2014. One of the men already sentenced will have to spend 5 years in prison before the suspended portion of the punishment initiates. The others were immediately suspended.

Two others, Christopher Paul Adams, 37, of Kalispell, and Justin Zeiss, 34, are awaiting sentencing or trial.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.