New Underwood Man Indicted for Child Pornography

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a New Underwood, South Dakota, man for Receipt of Child Pornography with a Prior Child Pornography Conviction and Possession of Child Pornography with a Prior Child Pornography Conviction.

Kent Joy, age 47, was indicted in March of 2023. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta L. Wollmann on April 28, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, up to 20 years and/or a $250,000 fine, a mandatory minimum of five years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count. Restitution may also be ordered.

The charges relate to Joy, a person previously convicted for a child pornography offense, knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography between April 18, 2018, and September 19, 2022.

The charges are merely accusations and Joy 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 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.

The investigation is being conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Blair is prosecuting the case. 

Joy was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has been set for June 27, 2023.