Chavez Spotted Horse, Child Abuse, Assault, Child Pornography, South Dakota 2018

Chavez Spotted Horse, Child Abuse, Assault, Child Pornography, South Dakota 2018

Aberdeen, South Dakota - January 4, 2018 - Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that Chavez Spotted Horse, age 41, was sentenced to 76 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $600 on the Child Abuse and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon charges. He was also sentenced to 78 months in custody, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100 on the Receipt of Child Pornography charge.

The convictions on the Child Abuse and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon charges stem from an incident on December 1, 2016, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement was summoned to a school in Little Eagle, to investigate a reported child abuse matter. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the 11-year-old victim, who was visibly bruised over large portions of her body.

The victim informed the officer that Chavez Spotted Horse started to question her about boys. The victim stated that when she did not answer his questions, Chavez Spotted Horse started to beat her on her legs and back with a plastic kitchen spoon, a rod, and a plastic hanger. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered serious bruising to her legs and back.

The conviction on the Child Pornography charge stems from an incident in the fall of 2015, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation received information indicating a computer in Little Eagle was accessing child pornography. A search warrant was obtained and the home of Chavez Spotted Horse was searched. Computers and hard drives were seized pursuant to the search warrant. Chavez Spotted Horse provided passwords to the computers and admitted to viewing and receiving child pornography on the computers, over the internet on specialized websites, including sexually explicit pictures of young children.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency, the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations, the North Dakota Crime Bureau’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the BIA-OJS Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.

Chavez Spotted Horse was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. He was convicted of three counts of Child Abuse, three counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and Receipt of Images Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of Minors. The charges were the result of two separate trials, one held in October 2017 and another in November 2017.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/little-eagle-man-sentenced-child-abuse-assaults-and-child-pornography-0