Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced the sentencing of David Paxton, a 72-year-old resident of Mission, South Dakota. Paxton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte to 12 years in federal prison for abusive sexual contact with a child. This will be followed by five years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Paxton was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2022 and pleaded guilty on January 3, 2024. The charges stem from incidents that occurred between August 24, 2017, and July 31, 2021, in Todd County, South Dakota. During this period, Paxton sexually molested a child aged between five and eight years old within the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case under the Major Crimes Act, which requires certain violent crimes in Indian Country to be handled in federal court.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project brings together federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
The FBI conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson led the prosecution.
Paxton has been allowed to self-report to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by June 2, 2025.
