Rapid City Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Charge

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on January 24, 2024.

Donald Shepersky, 68, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Shepersky will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Shepersky was indicted for Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography by a federal grand jury in August of 2022. He pleaded guilty on October 25, 2023.

Shepersky was federally indicted following a Cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children in relation to an upload of child pornography to Kik. The Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce executed a search warrant on Shepersky’s residence and located multiple electronic 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.

Shepersky was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.