A Tea, SD man is hit with a new indictment and atleast three new charges since his first indictment in December of 2009.
Brandon Quincy Thompson, a 26-year-old Tea man located just outside of Sioux Falls in South Dakota was arrested in late November for the trafficking of three child victims for sex in what is being called a child sex ring. Thompson has been held in the Minnehaha County Jail since then.
On Thursday, prosecutors filed a new indictment that points to eight of ten victims being children that were transported across state lines. The new federal indictment also adds new charges of Thompson sending pornographic pictures of children across state lines with a Blackberry; he stole a St. Paul man's identity and used a firearm to commit a felony.
Charges also include Thompson going under the names "Terrence Clay" and " Kadafi" while living in Tea and attempting to solicit the murders of two federal witnesses between February and April.
Tompson is being held away from the general jail population with no internet access by the request of the prosecuters, but he can still use the inmate phone system. Thompson can also see visitors, says Minnehaha County Jail Warden Tim Devlin.
"He's in isolation, but he's not restricted from having any visitors," Devlin said.
Thompson's girlfriend, 30-year-old Megan Marie Hayes, is charged with one count of sex trafficking. An affidavit filed last year claims the two placed ads for prostitution services on the Web site backpage.com. Clients would set up meetings with the girls by calling one of the handful of cell phone numbers Thompson used, the court documents said.
Hayes was released to the custody of her father in Davenport, Iowa, in December.
There is no word yet on whether there will be attempted murder charges filed. Each of the 12 counts relating to sex trafficking carry a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Tea Police Department and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation assisted with the initial proceedings, but the case now is in the hands of federal prosecutors and the FBI.
"As long as there are charges pending, our case is open," said Special Agent E.K. Wilson of the FBI's Minneapolis field office.
