ABERDEEN, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced on Wednesday, August 27, that a Timber Lake, South Dakota, man has been convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact without Consent.

Jaren Loren Lane Mellette, 27, was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison, 5 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Mellette was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2024 and pleaded guilty on June 3, 2025.

The charges come after Mellette groped a 13-year-old girl without her consent in 2023 in Corson County, South Dakota, within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office due to the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, which authorizes certain crimes alleged to have occurr

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