Eagle Butte Man Sentenced for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota man convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a child was sentenced on December 17, 2013, by U.S. District Court Judge Roberto A. Lange.

Chad Two Hearts, age 40, was sentenced to 27 years in custody, five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Two Hearts was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 13, 2013, for aggravated sexual abuse of a child. He was convicted of that charge following a two-day jury trial in August 2013.

At trial, the jury heard evidence from the victim. The victim said when he was 9 or 10 years old, Two Hearts had sexually assaulted him at least two times in Two Hearts’ mother’s home in Eagle Butte. The victim also testified that Two Hearts sexually abused him in Minnesota. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and the sexual assault task force members testified that Two Hearts made a taped confession admitting the sexual assault of the victim in Minnesota. The jury also heard evidence from two sexual assault experts who explained that it is not unusual for children to delay the reporting of sexual abuse or to keep the sexual abuse a secret, sometimes for years.

At his sentencing on December 17, 2013, the district court took notice that Two Hearts had a prior state of South Dakota conviction in Hughes County for attempted second-degree rape in 1995. This assault involved a 17-year-old minor.

The federal case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Division, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mikal Hanson prosecuted the case.

Two Hearts was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.