Sioux Falls Man Sentenced To 30 Years For Child Sex Trafficking

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of two counts of Sex Trafficking of a Child has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Emmanuel William Nyuon, age 34, appeared before U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier today and was sentenced to 360 months on each of the two counts of Sex Trafficking of a Child by Force, Fraud, or Coercion and Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking of a Child, with the sentences to run concurrently.  Nyuon was also sentenced to 10 years supervised release, a $5,000 fine, and a $200 special assessment. A federal jury found Nyuon guilty of these charges on April 5, 2013. 

“The sentence handed down today to Emmanuel Nyuon amplifies our message to commercial sex traffickers. Do not set up shop in South Dakota,” said U. S. Attorney Johnson.  “With nine convictions, two life sentences, and others being sent away for decades, we have a prosecution rate that sends a clear and critical message that human trafficking will be not tolerated.” 

In the spring of 2011, the Sioux Falls Police Department (SFPD) Street Crimes Unit began investigating a criminal organization operating in and around Sioux Falls.  Witnesses identified several individuals they claimed had been selling narcotics and prostitutes, which included Emmanuel Nyuon.  In January of 2012, the SFPD requested federal assistance, and a team consisting of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the SFPD, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation began investigating the case. 

Johnson also added, “I want to recognize the law enforcement agencies that were involved in this investigation.  No one entity can address this problem, and our partnerships are critical as we weed out traffickers in our state.”  Johnson recently announced the formation of a Human Trafficking Task Force in South Dakota that will be comprised of law enforcement partners on the federal, state, and local levels. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Koliner and Jeff Clapper prosecuted the case.  Nyuon was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal to begin serving his sentence.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.