A Rapid City man, James Fast Horse, has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor using the internet. The sentencing was delivered by U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler on October 24, 2025.
Fast Horse, age 47, will also serve five years of supervised release after his prison term. He was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $95 in restitution to the South Dakota Internet Crimes Investigation Fund.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023 and pleaded guilty on July 28, 2025.
The arrest took place during an undercover anti-sex trafficking operation at the Sturgis Bike Rally. Over several days, Fast Horse used Facebook Messenger and his cell phone to communicate with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl. In reality, he was interacting with an undercover federal law enforcement officer. During these communications, Fast Horse described sexual acts he intended to perform and sent explicit images of himself. He also requested sexually explicit photos from the person he thought was a minor.
On the night of his arrest, Fast Horse drove for over an hour intending to meet the girl for sex. After stopping at a local business to purchase sexual lubricant, he arrived at the agreed location and was arrested by law enforcement agents.
“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.”
The investigation involved U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota DCI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.
Following sentencing, Fast Horse was remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
