Brookings Man Sentenced to Life for 12‑Year Child Abuse Case on Lake Traverse Reservation
Northeast Radio SD News – South Dakota - A Brookings man has been sentenced to life in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota.
U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann sentenced 47‑year‑old Joseph Darrell Peterson, Jr. on September 21, 2026. Peterson, formerly of Veblen, must also pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Peterson was indicted in August 2024 and convicted following a jury trial held the week of June 15, 2026.
Twelve Years of Abuse Across Multiple States
According to federal prosecutors, Peterson began grooming and sexually assaulting the victim in 2006, when she was just six years old. Peterson lived in the same home and acted as a parental figure. Over the next twelve years, he repeatedly raped and sexually abused her across multiple states and locations, including the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation.
The victim escaped the home at age 19. In 2023, she reported the abuse to law enforcement, prompting a multi‑agency investigation that led to Peterson’s conviction and life sentence.
Federal Jurisdiction Under the Major Crimes Act
The case was prosecuted in federal court because the Major Crimes Act requires certain violent crimes occurring in Indian Country to be handled by federal authorities rather than the state.
The investigation involved Sisseton‑Wahpeton Tribal Law Enforcement, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Ebert‑Webb and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) AUSA Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Part of MMIP and Project Safe Childhood Initiatives
The prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which focuses on preventing and responding to cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous people through collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local partners.
It also falls under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide DOJ initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Peterson was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
