MAPP-SD, a project of Prairie View Prevention Services, Inc., is a comprehensive Methamphetamine awareness and prevention project. 
MAPP-SD is dedicated to:
u   Increase awareness of Meth and the problems associated with its use, manufacture and distribution;
u Provide, at no cost, professional Meth awareness and prevention education to groups and organizations on a community, regional and statewide level;
u Be a no-cost, ongoing resource for South Dakota citizens to deal with issues rising from the manufacture, use and distribution of Meth.

A Rapid City couple convicted of child abuse because they had drugs in their house will spend time in the South Dakota State Penitentiary.  They were arrested last January after the Unified Drug Enforcement Task Force executed a no-knock search warrant and used a battering ram to knock down the door to the couple’s home. 
The 38-year-old man and 39-year-old woman went to trial in November.  A jury of 10 men and two women found that exposing children to Meth and marijuana qualifies as criminal abuse.  The couple had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance but decided to fight the abuse charges.  The man was a Little League coach, and the couple’s children were on honor rolls and excelled in sports. But the couple engaged in behavior dangerous to the children’s well being, the judge said, “And that’s the double-edged sword.” 

The woman’s father testified that his daughter used Meth because she was obese.  Her sister made an impassioned entreaty to the judge not to send the couple to prison. “Meth has taken her — it has taken all of us…Meth kills families.”  The woman will spend three months in the state women’s prison in Pierre and then serve five years of probation.  The man will serve concurrent sentences of seven years with four suspended for the possession conviction and five years with four suspended for child abuse.
In addition to serving prison time, both defendants will have to repay the county for the cost of court-appointed attorneys’ fees and other costs.  Both possession of controlled substances and child abuse, as charged in this case, are class 4 felonies with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. As a habitual offender, the man faced higher penalties.

From the Rapid City Journal

The Rapid City case reflects a new state law concerning children exposed to Meth.  Read the new law here.

Back to In the News