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

PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on January 24, 2023.

Dwight Black Spotted Horse, age 38, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Black Spotted Horse was indicted for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender by a federal grand jury in May of 2022. He pleaded guilty on October 13, 2022.

Black Spotted Horse was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor on April 23, 2007. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender and update his registration within three business days of relocation or changing employment or student status. Black Spotted Horse last registered in August of 2021, providing a motel in Rapid City, South Dakota, as his address. The motel had no record of Black Spotted Horse staying there in 2021. Black Spotted Horse’s whereabouts were unknown until he was arrested on unrelated charges on April 14, 2022.

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 U.S. Marshals Service and Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Roesler prosecuted the case.

Black Spotted Horse was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.