Sioux Falls 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 Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on January 30, 2024.

Cole Bogen Bettin, age 28, was sentenced to six 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. Bettin will also need to register as a sex offender upon his release.

Bettin was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2023. He pleaded guilty on September 27, 2023.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between March 5, 2023, and March 6, 2023, when Bettin, using his cellular phone to access the application Grindr, attempted to persuade an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old male to distribute child pornography to him.

This case was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the SD Internet Crimes Against Children task force. 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.

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