Former Rapid City Gymnastics Coach Indicted for Child Pornography Offenses

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a Rapid City, South Dakota, man for multiple charges involving Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography.

A federal grand jury indicted Hayden Sengua, 25, on June 26, 2025. He was arraigned before Magistrate Judge Daneta L. Wollmann today and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.

The penalty upon conviction for each count of receiving child pornography is a mandatory minimum term of five years up to 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, a mandatory minimum of five years up to life of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count of conviction. Restitution may also be ordered. Sengua faces up to 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine for possessing child pornography.

Between May 2018, and no later than January 2025, Sengua is alleged to have received and possessed more than 14,000 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse in two Google accounts and multiple electronic devices. Sengua’s collection depicted children as young as infants and toddlers being sexually abused, tortured, and engaging in sex acts with animals. Sengua is alleged to have possessed computer-generated child pornography in addition to erotic visual depictions of minors.

Sengua worked at Just Jymnastics in Rapid City until May 2024, when his employment was terminated. He previously worked as a gymnastics coach in Oregon.

Sengua is alleged to have possessed images and videos of children in the Rapid City area whom he may have coached. To date, the investigation indicates these photos do not rise to the level of child pornographic images and are not the subject of criminal charges. If members of the community have any information about Sengua that may be relevant to the criminal investigation, however, they are urged to contact the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation at (605) 394-2298.

The charges are merely accusations and Sengua is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The investigation is being conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox is prosecuting the case.

Following a detention hearing on June 27, 2025, Sengua was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A trial date has been scheduled for September 2, 2025.