Source: Office of United States Attorneys
PIERRE – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Norris, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on February 4, 2025.
Harold White Hat, age 41, was sentenced to one year and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
White Hat was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. He pleaded guilty on October 31, 2024.
White Hat was convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact in 2022. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender and to update his registration within three business days of relocation or changing employment. In July of 2024, White Hat relocated from his registered address in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but he did not thereafter update his sex offender registration. He was arrested in Todd County, South Dakota, on August 23, 2024.
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 U.S. Marshals Service. Senior Litigation Counsel Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.
White Hat was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.