Rapid City Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on June 26, 2023.

Kyle J. Kirchhoff, 28, was sentenced to three years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and a $5,000 special assessment to the Victims of Trafficking Fund. Kirchhoff will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Kirchhoff was indicted for Production of Child Pornography, Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography by a federal grand jury in March of 2022. He pleaded guilty on March 10, 2023.

The conviction stems from Kirchhoff possessing child pornography that he self-produced between January of 2019 and February of 2022.

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 Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, Homeland Security Investigations, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

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