Pine Ridge man sentenced for enticing a minor

PINE RIDGE, S.D. - A 37-year-old Pine Ridge man who provided methamphetamine to a 14-year-old girl and then sexually assaulted her was sentenced to ten years in prison. Rowland Coomes was convicted of Enticement of a Minor. In addition to the prison sentence, Coomes will also spend ten years on supervised release and is ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

The 14-year-old victim disclosed that Coomes not only sexually assaulted her, but he also solicited her for nude photographs, constituting child pornography, in exchange for transportation. The FBI searched Coomes’ Facebook account and found messages that revealed Coomes had received images constituting child pornography. The analysis of Coomes’ Facebook account also uncovered an illegal sexual relationship with another victim living on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

After Coomes’ arrest, he contacted a family member to delete his Facebook account in order to get rid of evidence. The FBI, however, had already searched and seized his account.