Sioux Falls soccer coach sentenced to prison for child sex abuse material

Federal prosecutors say the man used Snapchat to coerce a 14-year-old girl from Maine. One of South Dakota’s United States Federal Courthouses is located at the intersection of 12th Street and Phillips Avenue in Sioux Falls. Map data copyright of 2021 Google September 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM SIOUX FALLS — A Sioux Falls man will serve time in federal prison after admitting to requesting explicit images of a child on social media. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Dakota announced the sentencing of 47-year-old James Kooima. He was ordered to serve 15 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. His sentence also requires him to register as a sex offender and pay special assessments and fines of $12,500. Prosecutors say that Kooima, a former soccer coach in the Sioux Falls area, used Snapchat to befriend a 14-year-old girl from Maine in 2023 and accuse Kooima of convincing the teen that they were in a romantic relationship. Court documents say Kooima coerced her into recording and sending explicit videos of herself through Snapchat. Kooima was indicted in August 2024 on one count of “production of child pornography,” to which he entered a guilty plea in May
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