PIERRE — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - South Dakota), published as received.

PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Martin, South Dakota, man convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on October 29, 2024.

KT High Elk, also known as KT Burgee, age 30, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

High Elk was indicted by a federal grand jury in July of 2022. He pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024.

High Elk and an 18-year-old woman were at a house party on January 15, 2022, in Eagle Butte in the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. When the woman went upstairs, High Elk followed her, then touched her genitalia without her consent. At the time, High Elk was required to register as a sex offender based on a 2014 conviction for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. He was apprehended horseback riding near Snellman, Minnesota, in March of 2024.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.

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 the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem prosecuted the case.

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