child abuse
‘Waiting for life to start again’: Family agonizes over parental termination
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story mentions mental health issues. If you need help or know someone who does, please call 988, the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7 for free and confidential support. Home is Christian Banley’s purgatory. The tan, unassuming clapboard house with a sagging awning and an overgrown front yard sits across the […]
South Dakota inspired ICWA but still has high rate of Native children in foster care
Cheryl Spider DeCoteau was nervous. It was the Sisseton Wahpeton tribal citizen’s first time in Washington, D.C., and she sat in front of two senators, multiple congressional aides, lawyers and clerks in a large, wood-paneled committee room, bright lights shining down. Two of the 23-year-old’s sons, ages 5 and 3, sat in the audience while […]
Convicted rapist asks state Supreme Court for a new trial over alleged misconduct
A Spearfish man found guilty of raping an underage girl wants the South Dakota Supreme Court to grant him a new trial over what his lawyer calls police and prosecutorial misconduct. Scott Rudloff, 45, was convicted of three counts of first-degree rape against an 11-year-old girl and given 30 years on each count. Rudloff maintained […]