SIOUX FALLS — The former chairman of the Jones County Republicans was charged last week with possessing videos that depicted children being raped, state investigators say.
Rocky Hayes, 47, of Sioux Falls, was charged Jan. 20 with three counts of possessing child pornography, each a Class 4 felony.
According to court documents, the investigation began in October 2022, when an agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) received a CyberTip from file-hosting company Dropbox regarding possible files of child pornography.
The CyberTip, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, stemmed from nearly a month prior, in late-September, when a Dropbox employee viewed a file that belonged to a user with the screen name Rocky Hayes.
Special agents with the DCI said in court filings that the 16-second video appeared to depict an adult male raping a child that investigators estimated was 9-12 years old.
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Using the IP address associated with the file, agents were led to believe the file was subscribed to Midco. Agents then looked up the name Rocky Hayes through a search engine, and found information about Hayes’ business, Didactic Productions. An address associated with the company exists on Quiet Oak Circle, a residential neighborhood immediately adjacent to Harrisburg Endeavor Elementary.
Publicly available GIS data provided by the city of Sioux Falls indicates Hayes owns a home on Quiet Oak Circle, and investigators used a drivers license database to determine that is his permanent address.
After confirming from Midco via subpoena that the IP address belonged to Hayes, investigators continued searching through his Dropbox account, where they found two other files believed to depict child pornography. One file was a 9-second video depicting a girl, estimated to be 13 years old, performing a sex act, and another 15-minute video of a girl, estimated to be 8-10 years old, being raped.
On Jan. 19, authorities executed a search warrant at Hayes’ home and another alternative business address. Though Hayes was not at either address, at least one video file that matched what was uploaded to Dropbox was discovered on an external hard drive.
Since his arrest on Jan. 24, various websites and social media accounts for Hayes and Didactic Productions have all been set to private or otherwise removed.
Web archives from Nov. 4, 2020, show Hayes served as the chair of the Jones County Republicans at that time. It’s unclear how long he held the position.
Hayes is not in custody after posting a $25,000 cash bond two days following his arrest. He’s set to appear in a Lincoln County courtroom for a hearing on Feb. 9.
If convicted on all three counts, he could be sentenced to serve as many as 30 years in prison and pay up to $60,000 in fines. As of Friday, Jan. 27, the state’s Unified Judicial System indicates Hayes has not hired an attorney, and may represent himself.
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The Trust Project
