Sioux Falls Man Sentenced to Five Years for Receipt of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell has announced that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on May 29, 2024.

Shane Allan Nelson, age 38, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.

Nelson was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2022. He pleaded guilty on February 13, 2024.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between March 13, 2020, and March 18, 2020, when Nelson received materials containing child pornography. Nelson used his Apple iPhone to access the internet and direct a 16-year-old female in Delaware to send him nude photos of herself.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.

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 justice.gov/psc.

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