South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced Monday a Sturgis man has been convicted by a Corson County Jury of 11 counts of felony crimes involving five different children.
Lance Long, 40, was convicted of one count of second-degree rape, one count of third-degree rape, one count of fourth-degree rape, three counts of aggravated assault, and five counts of abuse of or cruelty to a minor.
Jurors returned the verdicts Friday night. Sentencing is scheduled for July 29. Long faces multiple life sentences.
The charges occurred between March 2015 and July 2017, when the defendant lived on a Corson County ranch.
Long had previously served time in prison for similar child abuse crimes that occurred in Minnehaha County. The Corson County case was prosecuted after the child victims disclosed the abuse to law enforcement in Sioux Falls.
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The Corson County case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
“Thank you to the investigators and prosecutors for their outstanding cooperation,” Jackley said. “I appreciate the jurors’ work on this most difficult case, and our thoughts and support remain with these young victims.”