Sioux Falls Man Charged with 36 Counts of Child Pornography Charges

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man with additional charges of Production of Child Pornography, Attempted Production of Child Pornography, and the Transfer of Obscene Materials to a Minor.

Justin Preuschl, age 29, was previously indicted in June of 2024 for charges involving the exploitation of minors. As the investigation continued law enforcement identified eleven additional victims and the grand jury superseded Preuschl's indictment with 20 additional charges in October of 2024. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on October 4, 2024, and pleaded not guilty to the Superseding Indictment.

On the counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, Preuschl faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a possible maximum of 30. On the counts of the transfer of obscene materials to a minor Preuschl faces a possible maximum of 10 years in federal prison. Each count also carries a term of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine. If sentenced to prison, upon his release he could be placed on supervised release for a period of up to life. There is also a $100 assessment per count to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.

The Superseding Indictment alleges that over a two-year period, Preuschl used various online applications and platforms to persuade, or attempted to persuade, several minor females to produce images of sexually explicit conduct and send the image or video to him. Preuschl also used various online applications to send obscene materials to minor females knowing the females were under the age of 16.

The charges are merely accusations and Preuschl is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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.

The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb is prosecuting the case.

Preuschl was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.