Eagle Butte Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child

PIERRE - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child. The sentencing took place on July 14, 2026.

Shane Bruguier, age 47, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Bruguier was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2025. He was found guilty following a three-day jury trial in April of 2026.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred sometime between January 2015 and November 2015 in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, within the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. The evidence presented at trial established that the 8-year-old victim was asleep in her bed and awoke to find that Bruguier had pulled her underwear down and was rubbing her vagina with his hand. The victim pushed Bruguier away and told him to get out of her room. The abuse was disclosed during a forensic interview in 2021.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to state court.

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 FBI and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Venhuizen prosecuted the case.

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