November 5, 2022 5:34am EDT
By Landon Mion By Landon Mion | Fox News
A Republican running for the South Dakota Legislature was charged with felony child abuse following accusations he groomed, molested and raped a child family member for several years.
Joel Koskan, who is running for state Senate for the third time, was charged Thursday in Mellette County with exposing the child to “sexual grooming behaviors” after Assistant Attorney General Mandy Miller reviewed an investigation conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. He allegedly groomed and abused the girl for at least six years starting in 2014, when she was 12-years-old.
The Republican allegedly began grooming the child by kissing her, giving her long hugs and having her sit on his lap, a DCI agent wrote in court documents, adding that the girl believed this behavior was “‘normal things’ that families were supposed to do.”
The girl, who reported Koskan to authorities in May, realized the conduct was inappropriate during a religious summer camp she attended at 14 in which counselors taught her when physical contact with adults can become inappropriate or sexual.
…
R&I~KC
Orange of Specious