Eagle Butte Man Sentenced for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on December 18, 2023.

Rydell Iron Rope, age 50, was sentenced to two years and six months prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Iron Rope was indicted for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender by a federal grand jury in July of 2023. He pleaded guilty on September 15, 2023.

On September 30, 1996, Iron Rope was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. Iron Rope was subsequently convicted of Commission of a Sexual Offense While Registered as a Sexual Offender on June 16, 2008. As a result of these convictions, Iron Rope must maintain his registration for the rest of his life, including updating his registration within three business days of a change of residence address, employment, or student status. Iron Rope returned to Eagle Butte on April 10, 2023, after being convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender in North Dakota. Iron Rope registered an address on the south side of Eagle Butte with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act Compliance Office. It was later discovered that Iron Rope had relocated to a different address in Eagle Butte without properly updating his registration.

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 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Roesler prosecuted the case.

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