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 April 7, 2023.

Sonny Ray Escarsega, a/k/a Sonny Ray Ruiz, age 40, was sentenced to two 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.

Escarsega was indicted by a federal grand jury in November of 2022. He pleaded guilty on January 9, 2023.

Escarsega was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in 2003. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender and to update his registration within three business days of relocation or changing employment. In August of 2022, Escarsega was released from prison and began a period of supervised release. Escarsega initially registered and resided at an address in Rapid City, but he subsequently moved from his registered address and did not update his registration.  His whereabouts were unknown until his arrest near Mission, South Dakota, on October 25, 2022.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.

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.

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