Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A Bullhead, South Dakota man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor and failure to register as a sex offender. The sentencing of Travis Anthony Weasel, 45, was announced by U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell and took place on August 4, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann in Aberdeen.
Weasel will also serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and must pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
According to court records, Weasel was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2023 and pleaded guilty on May 19, 2025.
Weasel’s criminal history includes a conviction in 2011 for sexual abuse of an incapacitated person after he had sexual intercourse with an unconscious woman at a house party in Bullhead, South Dakota. He also encouraged an adolescent boy to participate at that time. After being released from prison for this offense in May 2021, Weasel failed to continue registering as a sex offender until his arrest in February 2024.
The recent crime occurred on January 26, 2023, when Weasel asked a childhood friend if he could stay at their home in McIntosh, South Dakota—a community within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation—because he was homeless. The friend allowed him to stay. That evening, the friend's 15-year-old daughter visited the home. According to case details, Weasel gave adulterated alcohol to his friend who then passed out. He then pressured and threatened the girl into drinking adulterated alcohol until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, Weasel was sexually assaulting her; when she called out for help, he threatened her father and family dog with harm if she continued screaming. Despite her pleas for him to stop, Weasel continued the assault until ejaculation. The girl managed to escape into the snow where her grandmother later found her.
“Protecting children from sexual abuse is amongst our highest priorities at the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell. “When we can prosecute these heinous crimes at the federal level, we are able to seek decades-long sentences without the possibility of parole, thereby achieving the justice these victims deserve and safeguarding our communities from sex offenders for years to come.”
Federal jurisdiction applied because under the Major Crimes Act certain violent crimes alleged within Indian country must be prosecuted federally rather than by state authorities.
This prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood—a Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating resources across federal, state, and local agencies (https://www.justice.gov/psc).
The investigation involved the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services, and United States Marshals Service; Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem led prosecution efforts.
Weasel was immediately remanded into custody following sentencing.
