Four men were arrested during the Sturgis Rally for sex crimes.
The Internet Crimes Against Children unit conducted a sting operation at the rally for a third year. The unit includes local, state and federal law enforcement officials. It targets those who are willing to pay for sex with minors.
Officials arrested three men for attempted commercial sex trafficking and one for solicitation of a minor.
Attorney General Marty Jackley says over the last three years the Internet Crimes Against Children unit has landed 29 arrests. He says 19 of those were during the Sturgis Rally. Jackley says the number of arrests has gone down each year over the past three years.
“I think part of what we look at to measure success is the continued decrease in the number of arrests at this rally demonstrates that these operations are working and they are really deterring human trafficking of young children here in South Dakota,” says Jackley.
Jackley says these operations did not target the actual traffickers who engage in selling children for sex. He says there are websites used by traffickers to advertise the sale of sex in South Dakota.
But Jackley says current federal law provides protection for those advertising on these sites. He says 49 of the nation’s attorney generals asked congress to take away immunity from these websites so law enforcement can more easily go after traffickers.
Those arrested include:
Toby Magnuson, 44, New Effington, SD, one count of attempted commercial sex trafficking, 10 years minimum/mandatory prison sentence
Marcus Dorsey, 35, Loup City, NE, one count of attempted commercial sex trafficking, 10 years minimum/mandatory prison sentence
Michael Preston, 27, Las Vegas, Nevada, one count of attempted commercial sex trafficking, 10 years minimum/mandatory prison sentence
Aaron Vandekamp, 21, Lester, Iowa, solicitation of a minor, class 4 felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or $20,000 fine
The Attorney General says all those who are accused are innocent until proven guilty.
