AUGUST 2024:
U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has handed down the punishment for a Pine Ridge, South Dakota, man convicted of Enticement of a Minor. The sentencing took place on August 12, 2024.
Rowland Coomes, age 37, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Coomes was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in February 2023. He pleaded guilty on May 30, 2024.
In February of 2022, a 14-year-old female reported that she had been provided methamphetamine and sexually assaulted by Coomes while on the Pine Ridge Reservation. During the report, the 14-year-old female disclosed that Coomes had also solicited her for nudes photographs, constituting child pornography, in exchange for transportation. The FBI applied for and received a search warrant to search Coomes’ Facebook account. Messages revealed that Coomes had in fact received images constituting child pornography. An analysis of Coomes’ Facebook account established that he was in an illegal sexual relationship with another victim – living on the Reservation. After Coomes’ arrest, he contacted a family member and urged the family member to delete his Facebook account in order to get rid of evidence establishing his guilt. The FBI, however, had already searched and seized his account at the time Coomes’ made the request to the family member.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.
Coomes was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
MAY 2023:
A federal grand jury has indicted a Pine Ridge man for Enticement of a Minor, Possession of Child Pornography, and Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Rowland Coomes, age 35, pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is a mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, a mandatory minimum of five years up to life of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count of conviction. Restitution may also be ordered.
The charges relate to Coomes using his cellular phone to entice a minor female to engage in sexual activity in November of 2021. Coomes also possessed child pornography on his social media account. Between March of 2021 and November of 2022, Coomes sexually abused another minor female at Pine Ridge.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen is prosecuting the case.
Coomes was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has been set for June 13, 2023.
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