PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Supreme Court Tuesday weighed whether to unseal a search warrant and affidavits in an investigation into billionaire banker-turned-philanthropist T. Denny Sanford for possible possession of child pornography.
The court documents are sealed and refer only to “an implicated individual,” and attorneys did not name Sanford as they made their arguments. However, one person briefed on the case by law enforcement told The Associated Press that the hearing involved Sanford and a legal effort by media organizations to unseal court records in the investigation.
The attorneys at the hearing also matched the lawyer representing Sanford, former attorney general Marty Jackley, and those for two media outlets — ProPublica and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader — that reported last year Sanford had been investigated for possession of child pornography.
The 85-year-old is the state’s richest man, worth an estimated $2.8 billion, but has vowed to “die broke,” and his name adorns dozens of buildings and institutions in South Dakota and beyond.
Even after the investigation was reported last year, Sanford donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the South Dakota government and the state’s largest employer, Sanford Health. Some of the state’s top lawmakers, including Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, have not distanced themselves from Sanford.
ProPublica first reported that South Dakota investigators had obtained a search warrant, citing four unidentified sources.
Sanford’s electronic devices came to the attention of investigators with the South Dakota attorney general’s office after a technology firm reported that child pornography had either been sent, received or downloaded on his device, according to one of the people who spoke to AP.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg determined there was sufficient evidence to move toward prosecuting Sanford, but passed the case to the U.S. Department of Justice because it spanned to Arizona, California and Nebraska, according to both people. Federal prosecutors have given no indication that they are bringing charges against Sanford, and Ravnsborg has not dropped plans to prosecute him if the Justice Department declines, sources said.
