Brandon Man Sentenced for Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Brandon, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on March 14, 2024.

Gatlin Wayne Herrera, age 31, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Herrera will also need to register as a sex offender.

Herrera was indicted by a federal grand jury in April of 2022. He pleaded guilty on November 30, 2023.

The conviction stemmed from incident between March 7, 2022, and March 16, 2022, when Herrera used his cell phone to knowingly request child pornography from an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old female.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.   

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.

Herrera was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.