(KXLG – Watertown, SD) Keenan Chidaushe, 26, of Brookings, SD, was sentenced yesterday to 17.5 years in federal prison with five years of supervised release, $186 in restitution, and a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Victims Fund for conviction of Production of Child Pornography.
A federal grand jury indicted Chidaushe in March of 2022. He pleaded guilty on May 5, 2023.
The conviction stemmed from incidents between November 8, 2021, and November 19, 2021, when Chidaushe used his cell phone to record sexual activity with a minor female. Chidaushe knew the victim was under the age of 18.
As a result of this conviction, Chidaushe will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from custody.
The Brookings Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
Chidaushe was reprimanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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 and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
