Joel Koskan was a Republican candidate for the South Dakota state senate in 2022. He was arrested in 2022 for grooming and raping a minor child who was a member of his family. It is alleged that he began grooming her as a young child. When she was 14, at bible camp, counselors discussed inappropriate touching and she told them about Koskan. A social worker was sent to do an interview but she did not cooperate. That was when he began to molest her. This continued for five years until she was 19. He was able to maintain control via surveillance cameras and GPS monitoring, limiting her social connections, even able to control her after she went away to school.