Law officers acted properly in the investigation of a former state lawmaker who was eventually convicted of raping two of his foster daughters, South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said Monday.

In a meeting with a legislative committee, Long denied allegations that officers delayed arresting or charging former Rep. Ted Klaudt, R-Walker ,because of political considerations.

When the Legislature's State-Tribal Relations Committee held a meeting in Mobridge in October, an attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe asked why the investigation and indictment of Klaudt did not become public until after the 2006 election. Tribal attorney Steve Emery told the panel that Native Americans are treated far differently when they are accused of crimes.

After talking with Long on Monday, the committee agreed to send Emery a letter saying law officers followed proper procedures in investigating Klaudt.

Emery did not immediately return a phone call asking for comments on the committee meeting.

Klaudt, 50, was convicted last year of four counts of second-degree rape involving two foster daughters who said he touched their breasts and genitals in phony examinations that he said would help them sell their reproductive eggs. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of witness tampering.

Klaudt was sentenced to a total of 54 years in prison, but he has appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court. His lawyer has said Klaudt weighs more than 600 pounds and is in such poor health he might not survive until the end of his prison term.

Long said law officers learned in January 2007 that allegations about Klaudt first arose in March 2006 when a foster daughter told a friend whose mother notified state Social Services Department officials. When Social Services officials talked to the girl, she said she had made up the allegations against Klaudt.

"Because of the denial, the investigation pretty much ended at that point," Long said.

The girl later said "part of the reason she had lied was Ted threatened her if she did tell the truth," Long said.

Klaudt was arrested and charged in May 2007 after the state Division of Criminal Investigation got further information about the case, Long said. The mother of another foster daughter had called, and DCI officials talked to the young woman, who had already left the Klaudt home, he said.

The second girl had kept e-mails she had received from Klaudt, and Klaudt admitted much of the allegations during a telephone call with the girl that was taped by law officers, Long said.

The attorney general said law officers cannot do much unless witnesses call and are willing to give sworn testimony for arrest warrants and court trials.

"Just saying everybody knew is great. But in law enforcement we work with evidence, evidence we can present in a courtroom. If we don't have it, it's like it didn't happen," Long said.

The girls lived in Klaudt's home as part of a program that provides foster care for young people who have no safe home to return to after completing time in juvenile reform programs.

The woman who first reported the allegation in 2006 has said the Social Services Department should have investigated more thoroughly at that time. But in Klaudt's trial, a juvenile corrections agent and social worker said they believed the girl when she told them she had made up the allegations.

Some members of the State-Tribal Relations Committee asked Monday why the Klaudt case was being discussed by the panel, which deals with economic development, education and other issues involving cooperation between state and tribal government.

Committee Chairman Rep. Kent Juhnke, R-Vivian, said the committee asked for Long's comments because the allegations of an improper investigation were made during an earlier committee meeting.

Sen. Tom Katus, D-Rapid City, said American Indians have historically been treated unfairly, but he believes Long handled the Klaudt case well.

Sen. Theresa Two Bulls, D-Pine Ridge, the committee's vice chairwoman, said Native Americans believe the legal system treats them differently.

"I think that's the feeling across Native Americans also, that a Native American will be sent to jail right away," Two Bulls said. "Why not Mr. Klaudt?"

Questions about the Klaudt case also included allegations the investigation might have been delayed until after the 2006 election, in which Klaudt was defeated in an attempt to win a Senate seat.

Committee members noted Monday that Emery lost a Democratic primary in June 2006 to Ryan Maher of Isabel, who went on to beat Klaudt in the general election.