Rapid City Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on July 24, 2026.

Parker Behrns, 27, was sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $6,095 in restitution and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Forfeiture was also ordered.

Behrns was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in September 2025. He pleaded guilty on February 9, 2026.

Between September 2022 and July 2024, Behrns used his cellular phone and the internet-based application Discord, to search for and receive images and video files containing sexually explicit visual depictions of minors. In some instances, Behrns posed as a minor female to request child pornography from other Discord users.

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.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Peterman prosecuted the case.

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