Sioux Falls Man Found Guilty of Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Sex Trafficking of a Child

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted Gerber David Santos Gonzalez, age 25, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet and Sex Trafficking of a Child by Force or Coercion following a two-day jury trial in federal district court in Sioux Falls. The verdict was returned on October 23, 2024.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, up to life of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Santos Gonzalez was indicted by a federal grand jury in April of 2024.

Santos Gonzalez used his cell phone and the Facebook Messenger app to try to convince who he believed was a 15-year-old girl to have a sexual encounter with him and offered her $100 to do so. The 15-year-old girl was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Santos Gonzalez arranged to meet the 15-year-old girl persona at a park in Sioux Falls, where he was apprehended by authorities and taken into custody.

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 Homeland Security Investigations, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Police Department, Watertown Police Department, Tea Police Department, Rapid City Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.

A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date has not been set. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.