Press Release
Summerset Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Summerset, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography.
Caleb Cook, age 23, was indicted on March 17, 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on April 13, 2022, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is a mandatory minimum of five up to 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, mandatory minimum of five years up to lifetime supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
Cook was federally indicted following a Cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. The charges relate to Cook receiving and possessing child pornography between September 2016 and December 2021, at Summerset. The charges are merely an accusation and Cook is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is a joint effort between the Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce, Homeland Security Investigations, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins is prosecuting the case.
Cook was detained pending trial. A trial date has been set for June 21, 2022.
Updated April 19, 2022
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Component