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Press Release

Sioux Falls Man Charged with Transportation of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man for two counts of Transportation of Child Pornography.

Matthew Richard Hainje, age 44, was indicted in March of 2023. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on April 11, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 40 years in federal prison per count and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that on December 20, 2022, and again between December 22, 2022, and January 13, 2023, Hainje knowingly transported child pornography. It is alleged that Hainje uploaded graphic images and video files depicting one or more minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct into his Dropbox and Google accounts.

The charges are merely accusations and Hainje is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Sioux Falls Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting 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.

Hainje was remanded to the custody of the State pending trial. A trial date has not been set.

Updated April 12, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood