Yankton man failed to appear in child abuse case

HARTINGTON – A man accused of child abuse failed to appear in court.

Colton Roland, 30, Yankton, S.D., was scheduled to appear Aug. 15 in Cedar County Court on charges of neglecting two children at a campground earlier this summer. His lawyer, Brad Easland, said he hadn’t been able to reach his client.

Judge Sara Bauer gave Easland 14 days to get in touch with Roland but by late last week the connection had been made.

Bauer signed off on a continuance until October in the case, and no warrant was issued.

In May, campers at Cottonwood Campground reported a 2-year-old child at the playground without parental supervision and then a short time later noticed the child had a full diaper with feces falling out of it.

Witnesses told law enforcement that Roland had briefly responded to the children after they asked him to but otherwise was sleeping. He had left the campground and was not present when officers arrived to investigate, but was later arrested.

Kaari Rood, 25, also of Yankton, was also arrested on suspicion of negligent child abuse in the incident. Her next court appearance is set for October.

In other action in Cedar County Court, Steven Sage, 26, Yankton, S.D., was sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine for obstructing government operations for lying about being suicidal in an attempt to get into drug treatment.

Both Yankton and Cedar County law enforcement responded to the Meridian Bridge in May 2023 to a report that Sage planned to jump.

When Yankton officials approached him to take him into emergency protective custody he lied and told them he was not suicidal. Sage then told a Cedar County deputy that he wanted to be placed into emergency protective custody in Nebraska because the process time was much quicker than in South Dakota.

Two other crimes against Sage were dismissed in Cedar County Court last week. Sage will be able to make monthly payments to satisfy his fine.