McLaughlin, SD – In a stunning blow to the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, Malachi Adam Marcus Howard, 22, of McLaughlin, was handed a 15-year federal prison sentence for his heinous act of causing a 10-year-old child to engage in sexual activity.
The sentencing, which took place on September 8, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann, followed Howard’s guilty plea on June 16, 2025, after being indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024.
This grotesque offense occurred between November 1, 2023, and March 19, 2024, within the reservation boundaries of Corson County. The federal charges were brought under the Major Crimes Act, which allows for certain crimes committed in Indian country to be prosecuted at the federal level.
Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse, played a pivotal role in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem of the U.S. Attorneys’ Office and the FBI, along with the Valley City (ND) Police Department, conducted an investigation that led to Howard’s prosecution.
Howard was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and is subject to ten years of supervised release upon his release from prison. He has been immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
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Key Facts
- State: South Dakota
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes|Violent Crime|Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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