Custer man faces rape charges

A Custer man faces up to life in prison for five charges concerning rape and sexual contact with a child under the age of 16.
Nana Osai Addae-Mensa, 37, faces two counts of rape in the first degree, a Class C Felony punishable by up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. Addae-Mensa also faces three counts of sexual contact with a child under the age of 16 years, a Class 3 Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine.
The charging documents against Addae-Mensa state that all of the acts, which include alleged sexual acts with a child less than 13 years of age, ocurred between July 17, 2021 and July 21, 2023.
In addition, Addae-Mensa is being charged by Custer County State’s Attorney Tracy Kelley as a habitual offender, in that he has on one prior occasion been convicted of a felony. The habitual offender information from the Seventh Judicial Circuit Clerk of Courts states Addae-Mensa was convicted of manufacturing a hallucinogen, selling opium or derivative, possessing marijuana with intent to sell/manufacture/deliver, possessing and or using narcotic equipment and possessing cocaine with intent to sell/manufacture/deliver on the June 11 in Leon County, Fla., within 15 years of the date of his current alleged violations.
Another Custer man, Steve Allen Tucker, 47, also faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence after being indicted for first degree burglary, a Class 2 Felony punishable by 25 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine, or in the alternative second degree burglary, a Class 3 Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine and grand theft, a Class 4 Felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison or $20,000 fine.
Tucker’s charges stem from late last month when he is alleged to have entered a structure in Custer and stole a saddle valued at more than $5,000 but less than or equal to $100,000. Tucker and an alleged accomplice are also accused with having stolen a credit card from the homeowner and subsequently used it for a variety of charges in Rapid City, including buying items at Wal-Mart, Menards and Exxon.
Custer County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated the theft and were able to pull prints from some items on the scene, and a man who knew the homeowner told the homeowner he may know who had the saddle and how to get it back, with the victim eventually buying the saddle back for $1,000.
Deputies were able to retrieve security video from the stores Tucker used the stolen credit card in and saw both him and an accomplice using the card for the purchases on the video. Tucker’s fingerprint was also identified on items left behind in the initial theft.
 Tucker is also being charged by the state’s attorney’s office as a habitual offender, as he has thrice been convicted of non-violent felonies in the past, including transport of a controlled substance in 2008 in Kern County, Calif., tampering with a witness in September 2012 in Kittatas County, Wash., and ingesting an unauthorized controlled substance in Custer County in 2016.
Habitual offender status can increase the maximum penalty for the current felony the defendant is accused of committing.  
Addae-Mensa is in custody in the Pennington County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
In addition to cash only bonds totalling $170,000 for his Custer County cases, Tucker is being held in the Pennington County Jail on a federal hold for the U.S. Marshal Service, as well as a dozen charges in Pennington County that range from petty theft to grand theft as well as intentional damage to property and a felon in possession of firearm.
Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley said the sheriff’s office has had 240 contacts with Tucker over the course of the past several years.