PIERRE — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - South Dakota), published as received.
PIERRE - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. The sentencing took place on July 27, 2026.
Christofer Sand, age 28, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Sand was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2025. He pleaded guilty on August 27, 2026.
The conviction stems from Sand having sexual intercourse with a minor child in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, in the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. The crime occurred in March 2025, and, at the time, Sand was 27 years old and the victim was 13 years old.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Venhuizen prosecuted the case.
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.
Sand was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
