JULY 2024:
U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on July 25, 2024.
Tell Logan Cadotte, 33, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $12,000 in restitution. Cadotte will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
In July of 2021, Cadotte was indicted by a federal grand jury for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Receipt of Child Pornography, and Possession of Child Pornography. On May 3, 2024, he pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.
For several years, Cadotte sexually abused a female minor he was asked to babysit. Cadotte recorded the sexual abuse using his cellular phone. When law enforcement executed a search warrant on Cadotte’s residence in February of 2021, they located images and videos of the minor female being sexually abused by Cadotte. He also possessed hundreds of sexually explicit depictions of other minors, some of whom were identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.
SEPTEMBER 2021:
A man from Rapid City has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Receipt of Child Pornography, and Possession of Child Pornography.
Tell Logan Cadotte, age 30, pleaded not guilty.
The charges relate to Cadotte sexually exploiting an underage female between January 2019 and January 2021, by producing images of child pornography. He remained in possession of the images thereafter. A search of Cadotte’s devices found that he knowingly received and possessed images depicting the minor involved in the sexually explicit conduct.
The maximum penalty if convicted 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 investigation is being conducted by the Rapid City Police Department and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant US Attorney Sarah B. Collins is prosecuting the case.
Cadotte was remanded to the custody of the US Marshals Service pending trial, which has been set for October 19, 2021.
