Spearfish Man Sentenced for Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken has sentenced a Spearfish, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on April 3, 2023.

Anthony James Kemp, 56, was sentenced to five 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 and a $5,000 special assessment to the Victims of Trafficking Fund. Kemp will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Kemp was indicted for Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet, and Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography by a federal grand jury in August of 2021. He pleaded guilty on December 2, 2022.

Kemp was arrested and federally indicted as a result of an undercover sex trafficking operation conducted during the 2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, targeting internet predators. Following multiple text messages with an undercover persona Kemp thought was a 15-year-old girl, he negotiated a time and place he would meet the girl to have sex. When Kemp went to the pre-determined location to meet the minor, he was instead met by law enforcement agents and placed under arrest. 

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 Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.

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