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. U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann handed down the sentence to Travis Anthony Weasel, age 45, on August 4, 2025.
Weasel will also serve five years of supervised release after his prison term and must pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He pleaded guilty on May 19, 2025, after being indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2023.
According to court records, Weasel was previously convicted in 2011 for sexual abuse of an incapacitated person in Bullhead, South Dakota. After his release from prison in May 2021 for that offense, he failed to continue registering as a sex offender until his arrest in February 2024.
The most recent crime occurred on January 26, 2023, when Weasel stayed at a friend’s home in McIntosh, South Dakota—a community within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. During his stay, he gave adulterated alcohol to his friend and later pressured and threatened the friend’s 15-year-old daughter into drinking it. The girl lost consciousness and awoke while being sexually assaulted by Weasel. When she called out for help, Weasel threatened her and her family with violence before continuing the assault. The victim managed to escape and was found outside by her grandmother.
“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 authorities prosecuted this case under the Major Crimes Act because it involved violent crime alleged to have occurred in Indian country.
The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide 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 handled prosecution duties.
Weasel was immediately remanded into custody following sentencing.
