Press Release
Watertown Man Sentenced for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a Watertown, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on August 28, 2023.
William Dean Locke, age 35, was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Locke was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2023. He pleaded guilty on June 5, 2023.
The conviction stems from Locke failing to register as a sex offender as required by state law between December 30, 2021, and October 19, 2022. Locke had previously been convicted of a sex offense in state court which requires him to register for the rest of his life.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman 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.
Locke was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Updated September 17, 2023
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
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