Cavour Man Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet

United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Cavour, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet was sentenced on June 13, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.

David Robert Farrell, age 40, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.

Farrell was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 4, 2021.  He pled guilty on March 14, 2022.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between April 22 and April 27, 2021, when Farrell knowingly used his cell phone to persuade and entice a 15-year-old female to meet with him at a hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the purpose of having sexual activity.  Farrell had been texting with a person he knew to be a 15-year-old female.  Unknown to him, and before the criminal conduct occurred, an undercover law enforcement officer assumed the identity of the 15-year-old female online.  Some of his communications were sexual in nature and he expressed his intent to meet with the 15-year-old at a hotel in Sioux Falls for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.

Farrell was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.