McLaughlin Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years in Federal Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography
Dakota Horned Eagle, 22, was sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison for receiving child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 20, 2026, 10:15 a.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 20, 2026, 10:15 a.m. ETFirst report
McLaughlin Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years in Federal Prison for Child Pornography Offense
According to official records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota, 22-year-old Dakota Horned Eagle of McLaughlin, South Dakota, was sentenced on August 3, 2026, to eight years and one month in federal prison for receipt of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler imposed the sentence, which also includes seven years of supervised release. Horned Eagle was ordered to pay $570 in restitution and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, as well as forfeit a desktop computer and a cell phone.
The announcement was made on August 13, 2026, by U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons. Official court records state that Horned Eagle was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2025 and pleaded guilty on April 21, 2026. Official records state that between November 2003 and November 2024, Horned Eagle used his cell phone to receive sexually explicit visual depictions of minors into a Kik account. Law enforcement investigators discovered 88 media files containing child pornography, and the Kik account included discussions regarding sexual abuse of female relatives when they were minors as well as discussions about trading child pornography.
The case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office as part of Project Safe Childhood. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox and Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case. Horned Eagle was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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- Version 120 Aug 2026, 14:15current
First published.
- Version 126 Aug 2026, 11:22current
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