Sturgis Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Sturgis, South Dakota, man convicted of Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. The sentencing took place on March 9, 2026.

Bryson Priest, 26, was sentenced to 10 years and three months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $95 in restitution and $100 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Forfeiture was also ordered.

Priest was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in October 2024. He pleaded guilty on November 21, 2025.

Between March 2021 and January 2023, Priest engaged in sexually explicit communications with a female minor who was 15 years old when they began communicating, and Priest was between 21 and 23 years old. Priest persuaded the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct during their online communications. Priest then created images of the minor by taking screen shots with his cell phone of the images and videos she sent him of her engaging in the sexually explicit activity or by recording his cell phone screen while she "live-streamed" with him over Snapchat. Priest was also in possession of other child sexual abuse material, discovered after law enforcement searched accounts and devices belonging to Priest.

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 Task Force and the Rapid City Police Department. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.

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