Investigators: Child porn found in email account linked to T. Denny Sanford

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KOTA) - Dakota News Now has obtained the unsealed search warrants related to the child pornography investigation involving billionaire philanthropist T. Denny Sanford.

The documents were unsealed Thursday after the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled unanimously on April 6 to uphold a circuit court decision. In its ruling, the high court wrote that the circuit court can seal the contents of an affidavit in support of a search warrant, but only until the investigation is terminated or an indictment is filed.

The unsealed documents include information on email addresses, phone records, and IP address. The documents are redacted for information like social security numbers and financial records. However, the justices affirmed that the state was not required to allow Sanford to inspect affidavits before they were unsealed.

Sanford’s legal team had an opportunity to appeal the ruling. You can read the documents at the bottom of this article.

According to the affidavit, Sanford’s involvement in the investigation began with a cyber tip linked to an AOL email account likely being operated by Sanford. The tip was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in July 2019, then forwarded to the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in August 2019.

According to the cyber tip, AOL/Oath Inc. discovered 36 image files within the account suspected of depicting child pornography. Investigators discovered that 36 images were three separate images repeated several times. All three images were of separate nude juvenile females, one with an estimated age between 12 to 15 years old; another estimated to be between 8 to 12 years old; and a third estimated to be between 10 to 15 years old.

Investigators also discovered at least two photos of nude juvenile or prepubescent females sent from a Verizon Samsung Galaxy phone, as well as the other nude images, but with different file names.

Several other items in the email account included T. Denny Sanford, such as a photo of his driver’s license, a letter from The Dalai Lama, and a hotel receipt in Sanford’s name, as well as several photos believed to be Sanford in a hospital gown, in an airplane, and sitting at a table.

According to the affidavit, investigators believed the AOL account was being used by Sanford and the IP addresses maintained by Midcontinent Communications showed possible geolocation of Sioux Falls. However, investigators cited “inconsistent possible subscriber geolocation information” associated with the Verizon Wireless IP addresses used to access the email account as a reason for being unable to make an accurate determination regarding the location of the person who was accessing the account on the particular dates.

Investigators said those various IP addresses have possible subscriber geolocations that include locations in Arizona, Oregon, and California. At the time, Sanford owned homes in Sioux Falls, Scottsdale, Arizona, and La Jolla, California. Court documents say the possible subscriber geolocation information regarding the IP address used to access the account includes all three of those cities, however, investigators also pointed out that it’s possible that a user could remotely access computers in those locations from anywhere in the world.

Sanford is not facing charges in South Dakota, and it is unclear if he is the subject of any child pornography investigations in any other jurisdictions, including Arizona or California.

In a statement to Dakota News Now, Tony Mangan, the communications director of the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office said:

Sanford provided a statement to Dakota News Now on behalf of his legal team:

ProPublica first reported that Sanford was being investigated for possession of child pornography in August OfficeAttorney’s2020. In November of 2021, court documents confirmed the banker and philanthropist was the ‘implicated individual’ in a child pornography investigation.

For nearly two years, Sanford has been in a legal battle with ProPublica and the Argus Leader to delay the unsealing of the search warrant affidavits related to the investigation. ProPublica and the Argus originally filed to unseal the documents while the investigation was ongoing, but last year the investigation into Sanford was completed by the state and it was determined he would not face any child pornography charges.

Sanford argued that he should be allowed to “inspect and participate in redacting the affidavits before the circuit court unseals them,” but the circuit court did not believe it was authorized to seal the contents of the warrants after the investigation had concluded.

ProPublica and the Argus Leader filed another motion to unseal the affidavits, arguing that the court had previously ordered the affidavits to be unsealed upon the ,termination of the investigation while simultaneously arguing the inspection and redaction process proposed by Sanford was unnecessary.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Argus Leader News Director Shelly Conlon told Dakota News Now, “The law is clear, and the Court’s decision only reaffirms the role journalism has in accountability and understanding government, public figure, and law enforcement decisions.”

You can find the court documents here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23790647/doc042723-04272023122000.pdf

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