In April 2025, a North Dakota man named Gary Donnelly—who was facing over 500 years in prison for 107 felony charges related to child sexual abuse material—had every charge dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case can never be retried in state court. The charges included promoting or directing obscene sexual performances by minors and possessing prohibited materials.

The reason? The prosecutor’s office claimed it delivered tens of thousands of pages of evidence too late — and that this “clerical error” made a fair trial impossible. Williams County Judge Chas Neff agreed and dismissed all charges permanently.

This was not a minor oversight.

According to a May 2025 Inforum investigation, law enforcement had gathered:

More than 6,000 illegal images traced to Donnelly’s devices.
Detailed forensic reports.
URL history records.
Testimony from investigators who viewed the material.

This was not a weak case. The digital discovery reportedly spanned more than 54,000 pages, making this one of the most extensive child sexual abuse material prosecutions in North Dakota history — and it was erased before the public even knew it existed, with not a single local news outlet reporting on it prior to the charges being dismissed. 

Even more disturbing: Gary Donnelly still lives across from an elementary school in Williams County, and no media covered this case until it was already dismissed.

We Demand:

• A full federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice or FBI into the underlying charges.
• An independent review of how this case was handled by the Williams County State’s Attorney’s Office.
• Accountability for the decision to dismiss this case with prejudice instead of re-filing or allowing the people of North Dakota to see justice through.

This is bigger than one man.

When charges this serious are dismissed quietly and permanently due to an internal error — and no one is held accountable — it sends a message that clerical missteps matter more than the safety of children.

We, the undersigned, demand that this case not be the end of the story. If the state system failed, then it’s time for the federal government to step in.

Children deserve protection. Survivors deserve justice. Communities deserve answers.