South Dakota Republican Candidate Faces Felony Charges For Alleged Repeated Molestation of Family Member

South Dakota state senate candidate Joel Koskan was charged with felony child abuse this week amid accusations he groomed and molested a family member for years.

The Republican candidate is running for the South Dakota state Senate. According to court documents reviewed by Mitchell Republic, Koskan allegedly raped a now-19-year-old family member since the age of 14.

The outlet reported:

The investigation was spurred May 6, 2022, when a retired DCI agent contacted county and state investigators seeking assistance in a sexual assault investigation involving a 19-year-old woman who is related to Koskan. According to the retired agent, the woman disclosed that Koskan had been “raping her since she was a young child.”

The retired agent informed investigators that the woman said Koskan was monitoring her via GPS tracking systems in the woman’s phone and vehicle. He also owned the property she lived at, and could monitor it via a camera system.

A probably cause statement from a DCI agent, the woman told camp counselors about Koskan’s troubling behavior at 14 — which included “very long hugs,” kissing, and having her sit on Koskan’s lap — and social services were contacted, but she chose not to cooperate with the authorities.

The accuser claimed that when she turned 17, Koskan’s contact intensified and he began sexually assaulting her. She also claimed Koskan’s own wife referred to the sexual contact as a “special event.” This alleged encounter is what motivated her to contact authorities.

Court documents reveal there was contact with Koskan on the woman’s phone that confirmed parts of her story, the Mitchell Republic reported.

A hearing has been set for November 7 and Koskan could face up to 10 years behind bars. The state Democratic Party has called for him to end his campaign, while the state GOP released a statement saying they “trust the justice system” to determine whether the allegations are true, local outlet Keloland News reported.

“The allegation against Joel Koskan is very serious, and the South Dakota Republican Party unequivocally opposes child abuse in all forms. The South Dakota Republican Party trusts the justice system to work through the allegation,” state party chairman Dan Lederman said.

Watch above via Keloland News.