Sioux Empire Today

United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell has announced the sentencing of Deserick Jake Bird, a Watertown, South Dakota man, for Abusive Sexual Contact. U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann delivered the sentence on November 4, 2024, in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Bird, aged 37, received a 20-year federal prison sentence followed by ten years of supervised release. He is also required to pay $200 as a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Additionally, Bird is serving an 80-year sentence for a sexual assault conviction from the State of South Dakota.

Initially indicted for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child by a federal grand jury in February 2022, Bird pleaded guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact on August 19, 2024.

The case involved sexual assaults over three years on a young girl between eight and eleven years old. A second victim reported that Bird sexually assaulted her when she was fourteen.

This prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project involves collaboration among federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.

The FBI and Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal Law Enforcement conducted the investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Ebert-Webb handling prosecution.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.