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Press Release
Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of two counts of distributing child pornography, one count of receiving child pornography, and one count of failing to register as a sex offender was sentenced on October 15, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier. The conviction was the result of a federal jury trial in Sioux Falls in July of 2018.
Maksim Stefanyuk, age 27, was sentenced to 262 months (21.8 years) in federal prison on Counts 1 through 3, 120 months in federal prison on Count 4, to be served concurrently, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a $5,400 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
“The conviction of this repeat offender for these horrible crimes, and the substantial federal prison sentence that he will serve, are a credit to the hard work and dedication of the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “The ICAC Task Force is a model of federal, state, and local law enforcement cooperation. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their tireless public service in their collective mission of protecting our children from harm.”
Stefanyuk was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 9, 2017.
Previously, Stefanyuk had pled guilty to possessing child pornography in 2014. After serving his sentence in federal prison, Stefanyuk was released in April of 2016. He registered as a sex offender and reported that he worked near Brandon, South Dakota, but lived in Hills, Minnesota. After officers with the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force downloaded child pornography from Stefanyuk from a location in Sioux Falls, they obtained a search warrant. Not only did they discover child pornography on his computer, but also that he had been living in Sioux Falls without registering as a sex offender. Stefanyuk went to trial and a jury convicted him of all counts.
This case was investigated by the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, all of which are part of the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
Stefanyuk was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.