Skip to main content
Press Release

Rapid City Man Found Guilty of Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that Nathan David Hankins, age 30, of Rapid City, South Dakota, has been convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography following a court trial in federal district court in Rapid City. The verdict was returned by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken on March 23, 2023.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years up to of 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, five years up to lifetime supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count. Restitution may also be ordered. 

Hankins was indicted by a federal grand jury in December of 2019. 

Hankins was federally indicted following a Cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children in relation to a download of child pornography from Hankins’ Google account. The Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce executed a search warrant on Hankins’ residence and located several devices. A forensic examination of those devices found hundreds of images of child pornography.

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.

This case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.

A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date has not been set. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

 

Updated March 29, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood