Rapid City Man Indicted for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Benjamen T. Flute, a/k/a Benjamin T. Flute, age 43, was indicted in September of 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on September 20, 2022, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.

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

Flute was convicted of Second Degree Rape in December of 2007. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender. It is alleged that between August 12, 2022, and August 25, 2022, Flute, a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and a sex offender by reason of conviction under State Law, and having traveled in interstate commerce, failed to properly register as a sex offender and update his registration.

The charge is merely an accusation and Flute 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 U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson is prosecuting the case.   

Flute was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.