A sex offender who was banished from Flathead County earlier this year is now headed to Montana State Prison after he was found with pornography on his cellphone.

Jayson Arik Marquez, 40, was sentenced to 10 years in Montana State Prison, with credit for 70 days time served. Marquez will have to complete two levels of sex offender treatment while in prison.

In April, District Judge Robert Allison told Marquez he could not set foot back in Flathead County. Marquez originally received a 10-year probationary sentence for felony criminal endangerment, which Marquez pleaded guilty to as part of a plea bargain; a charge of sexual intercourse without consent was dropped.

Marquez was accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl from November 2011 and January 2012.

He maintained his innocence throughout the case. His attorney Sean Hinchey said at the original sentencing that the case had a number of weaknesses, but his client decided to take a plea bargain because Marquez felt that the risk of a 100-year prison sentence if he was convicted was too great.

Hinchey objected to Marquez being banished from Flathead County, but Allison said that was the only way he would not send Marquez to prison to ensure the victim’s safety and peace of mind.

According to testimony presented Thursday, Marquez moved to Missoula after he was sentenced in April. As part of his probation, Marquez is restricted from accessing the internet and possessing pornography because of a prior conviction for sexual assault in 1998.

Marquez said that his probation officers told him he could have a smartphone and computer as long as he did not access the internet himself, but accessed the internet through his wife. He is not allowed to access social media without permission.

Probation officer Tara Kattel testified that Marquez was not allowed to access the internet or social media at all.

She said she found evidence that his smartphone had accessed a number of pornographic websites on July 9 and 10. The phone also had a selfie photograph of Marquez in a folder meant to post to Instagram, several images of naked women, and data indicating that Marquez had tried to log into Facebook.

“He has consistently shown a disregard for the rules,” Kattel said.

Marquez claimed he had been set up by a friend who was angry at him and had threatened to “ruin his life” if Marquez did not break up with his 19-year-old wife. Marquez and the teen wed this summer.

Marquez said he had loaned his phone to the friend for several days. He said one of the photographs of women on the phone was of the other man’s girlfriend.

“It’s his girlfriend, not mine” Marquez said. “I did not download pornography... I believe he sabotaged my phone.”

Marquez’ wife testified that she stood by his explanation for the images and said that she also believed the friend had sabotaged the phone. She claimed to have monitored Marquez’s phone daily for inappropriate content.

But prosecutor Alison Howard did not buy into the explanation.

“If you think someone is going to sabotage you and put porn on your phone and you are a sex offender, don’t you think you shouldn’t loan him your phone?” Howard asked Marquez.

Howard also pointed out that Marquez had sent Kattel a message from jail saying that he was sorry for his wrongdoing and was ready to get out of jail and tackle his issues with his counselors.

Marquez did not explain why he would apologize if he did not commit the violations.

“I was not in my right mind at the time,” Marquez said, adding that he suffers from an unspecified mental disability.

At one point during the questioning, he told Howard: “I don’t have to sit here and have you badgering me.”

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