Mission Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

PIERRE - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a man from Mission, South Dakota, convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on July 6, 2026.

Jaret Wooden Knife, age 28, was sentenced to one year and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Wooden Knife was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2025. He pleaded guilty on April 9, 2026.

Wooden Knife was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in U.S. District Court in 2022. Consequently, he is required to register as a sex offender and update his registration within three business days of relocation or changing employment or student status. In July 2025, Wooden Knife began a period of supervised release residing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and he appropriately updated his sex offender registration. Wooden Knife thereafter relocated from his registered address and updated his sex offender registration to reflect a different residence in Sioux Falls, but he never resided at the new address. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued, and on September 12, 2025, Wooden Knife was arrested in Sioux Falls.

This case was brought as a 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. Attorney's 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 U.S. Marshals Service. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.

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