Judge: Documents in Sanford investigation should be public

June 17, 2022

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota judge has ruled there’s no basis to keep sealed documents related to a child pornography investigation of billionaire banker and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford.

Judge James Power said in his opinion filed Thursday that affidavits supporting search warrants should be made public under South Dakota law, but he will keep them sealed until Sanford and his attorneys decide whether to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

The South Dakota attorney general’s office declined to file charges following the investigation, saying it found no “prosecutable offenses” within the state’s jurisdiction.