RAPID CITY, S.D. – A western South Dakota man was indicted Sept. 14 for possession and receipt of child pornography.
The investigation is a joint effort between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
William Jacob Stone, 72, appeared in federal court on Oct. 22 and pleaded not guilty.
The indictment alleges Stone received and possessed computer images of child pornography between March 2020 and June 2021 in South Dakota.
Stone was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial set for Dec. 28. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, up to life of supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund on each charge. Restitution may also be ordered.
The charges are merely accusations and Stone is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Sazama is prosecuting the case.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move.
HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
Learn more about HSI’s child exploitation mission here.