January 26, 2023

I'm sure the Q-nuts will be all over this after a former chairman of the Jones County Republican party in South Dakota was arrested for possessing child porn. The child in the 16-second video appeared to be 9 to 12 years old with an adult male. The accused, Rocky Hayes, was listed as the chairman of the Jones County Republican party as of 2020.
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Via Keloland:

According to court documents filed in Lincoln County, on September 25th of 2022, an employee at the electronic service provider Dropbox saw a file believed to be child pornography.

This resulted in a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to a probable cause affidavit, the file contained a 16-second video of an adult male with a child appearing to be approximately 9 to 12 years old.

That cyber tip was passed on to an agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Agents then searched a home belonging to Rocky Hayes near a Harrisburg elementary school. Court papers say they found two additional videos on an external hard drive in his home office.

An arrest warrant was promptly issued for the 47-year-old. According to the Secretary of State's office, Hayes runs at least three businesses out of his home: marketing, design, and communications, along with managing a vacation property. He is also a photographer. Any information on the Internet about Hayes has been scrubbed, including photos. But the internet is forever.

In a statement to the outlet, the Executive Director of the South Dakota Republican Party, Madison Sheahan, said, "The South Dakota Republican Party has terminated its relationship with Rocky Hayes and Didactic Productions."

Hayes is facing three counts of possession of child pornography, and for some reason, a judge only set his bond at $25,000 cash.

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