Sioux Falls Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that United States District Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on October 26, 2026.

Toby Ferguson, age 55, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Upon release from federal prison, Ferguson must register as a sex offender for 25 years.

Ferguson was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2024. He pleaded guilty to the charge on July 9, 2026.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between January 1, 2024, and September 4, 2024, when Ferguson's attempts to download child pornography files triggered a CyberTip. The subsequent investigation revealed that Ferguson possessed files of minors, including minors under the age of 12 years old, being sexually abused.

Ferguson was previously convicted of rape in the first degree (victim under the age of 13 years old) in Lawrence County, South Dakota, on January 21, 1993. He had also been convicted of Sexual Contact with A Child Under the Age of 16 in Fall River County, South Dakota, on March 3, 1993. Ferguson was sentenced to 180 years in prison, with 90 years suspended, but was paroled after serving only 22 years. Ferguson was on state parole when he was arrested for this federal offense.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.

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.

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