Matthew Harold Iron Sr. Sentenced for Knife Threat Against Infant

A 33-year-old Kyle man was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for holding a large knife to the neck and stomach of an infant while threatening to kill the child. Matthew Harold Iron Sr. carried out the terrifying assault in November 2016, an act that shocked the tight-knit community on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Iron pleaded guilty to Felony Child Abuse and Neglect, a charge filed on December 20, 2016. The indictment detailed how he brandished the blade in a moment of violent rage, placing the weapon against the defenseless infant’s body and issuing lethal threats, according to federal prosecutors.

On February 5, 2018, Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken of the U.S. District Court handed down the sentence: 13 months in federal custody, followed by three years of supervised release. Iron was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund—a small price for trauma that won’t fade.

The case was aggressively pursued by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson, who emphasized the vulnerability of the victim and the severity of the threat. “This wasn’t discipline. This was terror inflicted on a child who couldn’t speak, couldn’t flee,” Patterson said in a prior court statement.

Investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, whose officers were first on the scene and recognized the federal implications of the crime due to jurisdiction on tribal lands.

United States Attorney Ron Parsons confirmed the sentencing, underscoring the government’s commitment to prosecuting violent crimes against children in Indian Country. Matthew Harold Iron Sr. is currently serving his sentence in a federal correctional facility, with no early release expected.

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