Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A federal jury in Rapid City, South Dakota, has found Brandon Bishop, 38, guilty of attempted enticement of a minor. The conviction was announced by U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell following a two-day trial that concluded on September 23, 2025.
Bishop faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, along with the possibility of a $250,000 fine. He will also be subject to at least five years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The case stems from an annual undercover operation aimed at identifying internet predators during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in western South Dakota. In August 2024, Bishop engaged for five days with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl on MeetMe and through text messages. The individual was actually an undercover detective from the Rapid City Police Department working with the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
During their conversations, Bishop requested explicit photos from the supposed minor and later asked her to have sex with him while describing sexual acts. He also offered alcohol, drugs, and money in exchange for meeting up. On August 6, 2024, Bishop arrived by bicycle at a gas station intending to meet the minor but was met by law enforcement officers instead. He attempted to flee and discarded his phone into a storm drain; authorities recovered the device and found evidence related to his crimes on it. Bishop claimed afterward that he thought he had been communicating with an adult.
According to U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell: "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." More information about this initiative is available at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The investigation involved cooperation between several agencies including the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Rapid City Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.
Bishop has been remanded into custody pending sentencing scheduled for January 12, 2026.
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