SOUTH DAKOTA
Capital Journal
By Stephen Lee stephen.lee@capjournal.com
A former Brookings pastor convicted in 2015 for sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl in the church lost his appeal in the South Dakota Supreme Court. But two of the five judges agreed with him that he didn’t break the law.
Timothy Bariteau remains in prison serving an eight-year sentence.
The decision, handed down last week, came down to careful parsing of the words of a state statute outlawing certain sexual contact. The state’s top judges disagreed on what’s legal and what’s not.
The five justices considered the appeal using only briefs, without oral arguments, in May and filed their 3-2 decision on Aug. 3, upholding the state circuit court’s conviction of Bariteau.
It’s a telling case because not only did the justices split over what the law means, but also the state’s top prosecutor on the case, Attorney General Marty Jackley, tells the Capital Journal the statute might need some clarification.
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