United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that Rapid
City, South Dakota, man was charged in federal district court with Sexual
Exploitation of a Minor and Possession of Child Pornography.
Vance Allan Warthen, age 29, was charged on January 15,
2020. Warthen appeared before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on January 17, 2020, and pleaded not guilty to
the charges. The maximum penalty upon
conviction is a mandatory minimum of 15 up to 30 years in federal prison and/or
a $250,000 fine, a mandatory minimum of 5 years up to lifetime supervised
release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution
may also be ordered.
The charges relate to Warthen sexually exploiting an underage
female in August 2019 at Rapid City by producing images of child pornography.
He remained in possession of the images thereafter. The charges are merely an accusation and
Warthen is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the South Dakota
Division of Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rapid City Police Department, and the
Pennington County Sheriff’s office
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins is prosecuting the case.
Warthen was detained pending trial. A trial date has not yet been set.
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