Topline
Nude photos of underage girls between the ages of 8 and 15 were discovered in the email account of billionaire T. Denny Sanford, who is the wealthiest person in South Dakota, newly unsealed documents show, shedding light on a child pornography investigation into the philanthropist which was closed without charges in 2022.
T. Denny Sanford is the richest person in South Dakota.
Key Facts
In the summer of 2019, images of nude underage girls were discovered in an AOL email linked to Sanford, prompting an investigation into the founder of First Premier Bank who is worth $2 billion and has donated large sums to children’s causes, according to documents released Thursday.
The images were revealed in unsealed court documents this week after a court battle by the news organizations ProPublica and South Dakota’s Argus Leader newspaper.
In 2019 the parent company of AOL sent information about the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn made the referral to law enforcement, sparking an investigation that included five search warrants for Sanford’s email, phone, and internet data; one investigator wrote he believed there was evidence of criminality, according to the documents.
Sanford’s attorney Stacey Hegge said Thursday that after an “exhaustive” investigation, no prosecutable offense was discovered, partly because many individuals had access to Sanford’s devices, including, potentially, hackers.
The investigation was closed last year after the South Dakota attorney general, who was leading it, was impeached, but it isn’t fully clear why Sanford was not indicted.
Sanford fought to keep the documents sealed, but, after a years-long battle led by news organizations ProPublica and the Argus Leader to publicize the affidavit, South Dakota courts ruled to unseal them on April 6.
Forbes has reached out to Sanford for comment.
Key Background
The South Dakota Supreme Court upheld a court ruling earlier this month that allowed the affidavit to be made public after Sanford had appealed to keep the documents sealed. The investigation into Sanford closed in 2022 after Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was impeached, with his administration saying it did not find probable cause for criminal charges in the state of South Dakota. Part of the problem could be that investigators have struggled to accurately locate the individual using the email account—the account was registered to locations in multiple states, including La Jolla, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona, where Sanford has houses, according to ProPublica. Sanford’s lawyers have also argued his email accounts were hacked.
Surprising Fact
The attorney general who replaced Ravnsborg is Marty Jackley, who formerly served as one of Sanford’s lawyers during the investigation. Jackley also served as attorney general from 2009 to 2019. In between his terms, he was on the team that argued in January 2022 that Sanford’s account had been hacked, but was elected as AG in November 2022 and no longer represents Sanford. In a statement Thursday, Jackley said the documents were forwarded to authorities in Arizona and California, where the email account was also linked, and “none of those authorities have lodged charges against Sanford.”
Crucial Quote
“After a thorough investigation the authorities concluded there exists no prosecutable offense,” Sanford’s attorney, Stacy Hegge, said in a statement Thursday. “Because there is no prosecutable case or further action to be taken, the court records being released contain only allegations.”
Forbes Valuation
Sanford is ranked 1,516 on Forbes billionaires list with a net worth of $2 billion. He owns First Premier Bank, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which specializes in credit cards for high-risk borrowers, typically with high interest rates and low limits—Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized the bank for “loan sharking” after it offered a credit card with a nearly 80% interest rate and a $300 limit. Sanford has famously said he wants to die broke and has given hundreds of millions to the health care company Sanford Health, as well as to charities helping children, such as the San Diego Children’s Zoo, Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls and hospice facility Ava’s House by Sanford.
Further Reading
Photos of Nude Children in Billionaire’s Email Prompted Investigation (ProPublica)
Why South Dakota billionaire T. Denny Sanford has never been charged in 2019 child porn case (Argus Leader)
T. Denny Sanford (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/04/28/billionaire-t-denny-sanford-was-investigated-for-child-pornography-newly-unsealed-documents-reveal-why/