Mission Man Convicted of Commission of a Crime of Violence while Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted Louis Andrew Rabbitt, Jr., age 42, of Mission, South Dakota, of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer with a Dangerous Weapon, and Commission of a Crime of Violence while Failing to Register as a Sex Offender following a three-day jury trial in federal district court in Pierre, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on January 25, 2024.

The charge of Commission of a Crime of Violence while Failing to Register as a Sex Offender carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in custody and a mandatory minimum of five years consecutive to any sentence for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender and/or a $250,000 fine, and a mandatory minimum of five years up to life of supervised release. The charge of Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer with a Dangerous Weapon carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. The charge of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, and a mandatory minimum of five years up to life of supervised release. A $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund applies to each count, totaling $300.

Rabbitt was indicted by a federal grand jury in October and December of 2023. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Rabbitt failed to update his sex offender registration after moving from his registered address in July of 2023. Rabbitt had continued to fail to update his sex offender registration when the U.S. Marshals Service arrived to arrest Rabbitt pursuant to an arrest warrant on September 20, 2023. In an effort to avoid arrest, Rabbitt threatened Deputy U.S. Marshals with a baseball bat before being apprehended.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service with the assistance of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wayne Venhuizen and Meghan Dilges prosecuted the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.

A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date was set for April 22, 2024. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.