United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Trafficking with Respect to Involuntary Servitude and Forced Labor was sentenced on October 17, 2014, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.

Curtis Ray Austin, age 21, was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Austin will also be required to register as a sex offender.

On August 10, 2013, as part of a sex-trafficking undercover operation during the Sturgis Bike Rally, Austin was arrested for attempting to obtain sex with a 15 year-old girl. Austin responded to a law enforcement-generated Internet advertisement which advertised sex with a fictitious 15 year-old girl, and he negotiated the terms of the sexual encounter. Austin then met with an undercover agent, who was posing as someone who could provide the young girl for sex in trade for an engagement ring, and Austin had the ring and condoms in his possession. Austin was subsequently arrested.

The investigation was conducted by the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rapid City Police Department, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Meade County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.

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