Source: United States Department of Justice News
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Brandon, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet.
Gatlin Wayne Herrera, age 29, was charged by Criminal Complaint on March 17, 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on the same, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between March 7, 2022, and March 16, 2022, Herrera, using his cellular phone, attempted to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, and coerce, an individual, who had not attained the age of 18, namely an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 15-year-old female, to engage in sexual activity for which Herrera could be charged.
The charge is merely an accusation and Herrera is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.
Herrera was released on bond pending trial which has not been set yet.