Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A McLaughlin, South Dakota man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for abusive sexual contact. U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann handed down the sentence to Malachi Adam Marcus Howard, age 22, on September 8, 2025. In addition to his prison term, Howard will serve ten years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Howard was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024 and pleaded guilty on June 16, 2025. The case involved conduct that took place between November 1, 2023, and March 19, 2024. During this period, Howard caused a 10-year-old child to engage in sexual activity in Corson County, South Dakota, within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota, "This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, authorizes certain crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country to be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court."
The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse across the United States. The project brings together resources from federal, state, and local agencies to investigate and prosecute offenders while working to identify and rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and Valley City (ND) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem led the prosecution.
Howard was immediately remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
