Box Elder Man Indicted for Using Computer to Engage in Criminal Sexual Conduct
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 26, 2013 |
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Box Elder, South Dakota man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly attempting to use a computer attached to the Internet to transfer obscene matter and to entice a female under the age of 16 to engage in criminal sexual conduct between March 28 and April 5, 2013.
Craig Joshua Weires, age 23, was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2013, for attempted enticement of a minor using the Internet and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Weires appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on August 15, 2013, and pleaded not guilty to the indictment. The maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The charges are merely accusations, and Weires is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Rapid City Police Department, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Office of Special Investigations from Ellsworth Air Force Base, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Collins is prosecuting the case. Weires was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A trial date has not yet been set.