Manderson man sentenced for sexual abuse of a minor

John Joseph White Plume Sr. pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor on July 11, 2022. In October 2021, a federal grand jury indicted him for sexual abuse of a minor and sexual abuse.

A superseding indictment added tampering with a witness to his charges for attempting to "intimidate, threaten and corruptly persuade" a witness to the crime to withhold her testimony. Those charges were dropped by the government after White Plume pleaded guilty.

According to a factual basis statement by White Plume and the government describing the crime, on March 1, 2021, White Plume was at a house party in Manderson where people were using methamphetamine and alcohol. 

The 14-year-old victim joined the party during the evening. Two witnesses then discovered White Plume having sex with the girl that night. 

White Plume admitted to knowing the victim was not over the age of 16, the age of consent in South Dakota. 

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken also ordered White Plume to serve five years of supervised release once he's completed his prison sentence. He will also have to pay a routine $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. 

The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the FBI investigated the case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted White Plume and Angela Colbath represented him.