SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A southeastern South Dakota man was convicted in federal court Wednesday of possession of child pornography.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation and the Yankton (South Dakota) Police Department.
Matthew Carter, 31, of Yankton, South Dakota, was found guilty on one count of possession of child pornography by a federal jury in Sioux Falls, Jan. 26.
While Carter was in jail in January 2021, he called his dad and directed him to retrieve some property that Carter had hidden above a ceiling tile in his bathroom. An officer listening to the jail call, and after obtaining proper warrants, went to Carter’s residence and found a computer hard drive above the ceiling tile. Forensic examination of the hard drive revealed 60 video files containing child pornography.
Carter was indicted by a federal grand jury May 4.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date has not been set. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of 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.