Rapid City Woman Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison for Facilitating Live Broadcast of Child Pornography

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, woman convicted of Aiding and Abetting the Distribution of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on October 31, 2024.

Krystal Kay Bulin, 30, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $3,000 in restitution to her victim. Bulin will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

A federal grand jury indicted Bulin in November of 2023 for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by a Parent or Guardian and Aiding and Abetting Distribution of Child Pornography. She pleaded guilty on August 2, 2024.

The investigation began when a concerned citizen alerted law enforcement after observing a 16-year-old minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct while broadcasting on the online streaming platform "BuzzCast." The South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force determined the minor lived in Rapid City, and that the defendant was facilitating the livestream in order to make money for a speeding ticket she received. The defendant, the victim's temporary guardian, repeatedly typed messages to viewers and moderated the chat room in which viewers were watching and commenting on the minor's exploitation in real time. One of the viewers sent the defendant $100 via CashApp as payment for the child pornography he watched of the victim.

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 South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, the Rapid City Police Department, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

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