United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Wanblee, South Dakota man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for two charges of aggravated sexual abuse by force and two charges of sexual abuse.
Jason Poor Bear, age 39, was indicted on December 17, 2013. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on February 11, 2014, and pled not guilty to the indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.
The charges relate to an incident that happened in Wanblee in May 2013 when Poor Bear used force to engage in sexual acts with a female who was physically incapable of declining participation. An object is alleged to have been used to accomplish some of these sexual acts.
The charges are merely accusations, and Poor Bear is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Kelderman is prosecuting the case.
Poor Bear was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Showing posts with label sexual abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual abuse. Show all posts
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Hudson County Man Sentenced to More Than Eight Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing Sleeping Woman on Domestic Flight
NEWARK—Hudson County, N.J., man was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for sexually abusing a sleeping woman aboard a flight from Phoenix to Newark Liberty International Airport in August 2012, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Bawer Aksal, 49, of North Bergen, New Jersey, was previously convicted of one count of sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact following a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares. Judge Linares imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial:
Aksal was a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Newark on August 20, 2012, sitting in the middle seat in a row of three. Neither Aksal, the victim seated by the window, nor the passenger in the aisle seat knew one other. Before the plane took off, the victim texted a friend complaining about Aksal’s arm encroaching into her seating area.
About one hour before landing, the aisle passenger looked to his right and saw Aksal with his body against the victim’s, his arms around her back and beneath a sweater draped over her. The victim awoke to find Aksal’s hands inside her shirt and shorts and struggled out of his grasp. The aisle passenger observed her jolting awake, and he and the victim both gathered their belongings and headed to the back of the plane to report what happened to the flight attendants.
Aksal was detained upon arrival in Newark and arrested by FBI agents.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Aksal to serve three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution to the victim for her medical expenses. Aksal is required to register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, and the Port Authority Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Alfonzo Walsman and Robert Frazer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur in American airplanes, as such events are outside the jurisdiction of any state.
Bawer Aksal, 49, of North Bergen, New Jersey, was previously convicted of one count of sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact following a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares. Judge Linares imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial:
Aksal was a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Newark on August 20, 2012, sitting in the middle seat in a row of three. Neither Aksal, the victim seated by the window, nor the passenger in the aisle seat knew one other. Before the plane took off, the victim texted a friend complaining about Aksal’s arm encroaching into her seating area.
About one hour before landing, the aisle passenger looked to his right and saw Aksal with his body against the victim’s, his arms around her back and beneath a sweater draped over her. The victim awoke to find Aksal’s hands inside her shirt and shorts and struggled out of his grasp. The aisle passenger observed her jolting awake, and he and the victim both gathered their belongings and headed to the back of the plane to report what happened to the flight attendants.
Aksal was detained upon arrival in Newark and arrested by FBI agents.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Aksal to serve three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution to the victim for her medical expenses. Aksal is required to register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, and the Port Authority Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Alfonzo Walsman and Robert Frazer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur in American airplanes, as such events are outside the jurisdiction of any state.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Ohio Gov Rejects Mercy for Pregnant Woman's Killer
Ohio's governor refused Tuesday to spare a condemned inmate who raped and killed a pregnant woman nearly 25 years ago and faces execution next month by a method of lethal injection never tried in the U.S.
Gov. John Kasich's rejection of mercy for death row inmate Dennis McGuire followed a recommendation last month by the Ohio Parole Board. The governor did not explain his ruling, as is customary when Kasich denies mercy to death row inmates.
The board voted unanimously against mercy for McGuire, despite arguments by his lawyers that he be spared because of his chaotic and abusive childhood and the failure of his original attorneys to work hard enough on his behalf.
Kasich's decision came as attorneys trying to stop the execution argued in federal court that McGuire will experience "agony and terror" because of the effect of the new execution method.
The drugs won't sedate McGuire properly, and he will experience a suffocation-like syndrome known as air hunger, the attorneys said in filings Monday and Tuesday.
They also said McGuire exhibits several symptoms of sleep apnea, which could exacerbate the problem.
The drugs were chosen because of a shortage of other lethal injection drugs.
"McGuire will experience the agony and terror of air hunger as he struggles to breathe for five minutes after defendants intravenously inject him with the execution drugs," the inmate's attorneys said in a Monday court filing.
The dose planned for McGuire isn't enough to properly sedate him, meaning he'll experience "the horrifying sensation" of being unable to breathe, Harvard anesthesiology professor David Waisel said in a Tuesday filing in support of the inmate.
McGuire, 53, is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart in Preble County in western Ohio.
McGuire's lawyers asked federal judge Gregory Frost to delay the execution while they challenge the proposed lethal injection system.
A message was left with the Ohio attorney general's office, which was expected to oppose McGuire's filing.
Supplies of Ohio's former execution drug, pentobarbital, dried up as its manufacturer put it off limits for executions. It's a challenge facing other death penalty states as well.
Instead, Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction plans to use a dose of midazolam, a sedative, combined with hydromorphone, a painkiller, to put McGuire to death.
That combination of drugs has never been used in a U.S. execution. They are included in Kentucky's backup execution method, while Florida uses midazolam as part of its three-drug injection process.
In its ruling last month, the parole board criticized McGuire's attempts over the years to evade responsibility and said that a recent letter he sent Kasich describing the slaying as a lovers' quarrel gone wrong was disingenuous. It also questioned his claims of childhood abuse and instead focused on the brutality of Joy Stewart's stabbing death.
"McGuire's crime is very disturbing in character, as it involved the rape and slaying of a nearly eight-month-pregnant woman," the board said.
McGuire was mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child and has impaired brain function that makes him prone to act impulsively, his lawyers said in a filing with the board.
"Dennis was at risk from the moment he was born," the lawyers wrote. "The lack of proper nutrition, chaotic home environment, abuse, lack of positive supervision and lack of positive role models all affected Dennis' brain development."
Gov. John Kasich's rejection of mercy for death row inmate Dennis McGuire followed a recommendation last month by the Ohio Parole Board. The governor did not explain his ruling, as is customary when Kasich denies mercy to death row inmates.
The board voted unanimously against mercy for McGuire, despite arguments by his lawyers that he be spared because of his chaotic and abusive childhood and the failure of his original attorneys to work hard enough on his behalf.
Kasich's decision came as attorneys trying to stop the execution argued in federal court that McGuire will experience "agony and terror" because of the effect of the new execution method.
The drugs won't sedate McGuire properly, and he will experience a suffocation-like syndrome known as air hunger, the attorneys said in filings Monday and Tuesday.
They also said McGuire exhibits several symptoms of sleep apnea, which could exacerbate the problem.
The drugs were chosen because of a shortage of other lethal injection drugs.
"McGuire will experience the agony and terror of air hunger as he struggles to breathe for five minutes after defendants intravenously inject him with the execution drugs," the inmate's attorneys said in a Monday court filing.
The dose planned for McGuire isn't enough to properly sedate him, meaning he'll experience "the horrifying sensation" of being unable to breathe, Harvard anesthesiology professor David Waisel said in a Tuesday filing in support of the inmate.
McGuire, 53, is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart in Preble County in western Ohio.
McGuire's lawyers asked federal judge Gregory Frost to delay the execution while they challenge the proposed lethal injection system.
A message was left with the Ohio attorney general's office, which was expected to oppose McGuire's filing.
Supplies of Ohio's former execution drug, pentobarbital, dried up as its manufacturer put it off limits for executions. It's a challenge facing other death penalty states as well.
Instead, Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction plans to use a dose of midazolam, a sedative, combined with hydromorphone, a painkiller, to put McGuire to death.
That combination of drugs has never been used in a U.S. execution. They are included in Kentucky's backup execution method, while Florida uses midazolam as part of its three-drug injection process.
In its ruling last month, the parole board criticized McGuire's attempts over the years to evade responsibility and said that a recent letter he sent Kasich describing the slaying as a lovers' quarrel gone wrong was disingenuous. It also questioned his claims of childhood abuse and instead focused on the brutality of Joy Stewart's stabbing death.
"McGuire's crime is very disturbing in character, as it involved the rape and slaying of a nearly eight-month-pregnant woman," the board said.
McGuire was mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child and has impaired brain function that makes him prone to act impulsively, his lawyers said in a filing with the board.
"Dennis was at risk from the moment he was born," the lawyers wrote. "The lack of proper nutrition, chaotic home environment, abuse, lack of positive supervision and lack of positive role models all affected Dennis' brain development."
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Pa. Priest Released From Prison After Appeal
A Roman Catholic church official who won an appeal of his landmark conviction in the priest-abuse scandal left state prison on Thursday after 18 months behind bars.
Monsignor William Lynn left the prison in Waymart in northeastern Pennsylvania, prison spokeswoman Terri Fazio said, and was being taking by the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office to a city jail, where he would be fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
After that, he'll be released, probably to the custody of a family member, one of his lawyers said.
The attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, declined to say where in Philadelphia his client will live while prosecutors appeal the Superior Court ruling.
Lynn, 62, was the first U.S. church official ever charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children. He was the point person for those complaints in Philadelphia from 1992-2004.
Prosecutors charged him with felony child endangerment. But the appeals court said the law that existed at the time didn't cover people who don't directly supervise children.
Lynn's lawyers, including Jeffrey Lindy and Alan Tauber, had made that argument even before his 2011 indictment, but Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina sent the case to trial.
The Philadelphia archdiocese has been in the crosshairs of city prosecutors since 2002, when the priest-abuse scandal broke in Boston. Lynn, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other church officials — accompanied by lawyers — were grilled for days by an earlier grand jury that issued a damning report in 2005 but concluded that no charges could be filed.
Prosecutors tried again under District Attorney Seth Williams, who charged three priests with new sexual assault allegations in 2011 and Lynn with protecting the accused predators by hiding complaints in secret files. Bevilacqua, by then frail and elderly, was a potential witness in Lynn's case but died before trial. By that time, his mild-mannered successor, Cardinal Anthony Rigali, had been replaced in Philadelphia by dynamic Archbishop Charles Chaput.
Chaput has twice visited Lynn in prison and has said that no one person should become the scapegoat for the abuse crisis. Bergstrom, his attorney, said Lynn has become just that.
"There's clearly some reason to believe that that's what happened here," Bergstrom said.
Lynn, at his July 2012 sentencing, told Sarmina he tried his best to address the festering sex-abuse problem. He also voiced regret over his climb up the archdiocesan hierarchy.
"I am a parish priest. I should have stayed (one)," Lynn said.
Sarmina acknowledged that Lynn sometimes sent accused priests for therapy, but she said he ultimately protected the church's reputation over the souls of children. She sentenced him to three-to-six years in prison.
Lynn's conviction stems from the transfer of accused priest Edward Avery to a new parish, where he was later accused of raping a former altar boy in the church sacristy. Avery pleaded guilty and is serving 2 1/2- to five years in prison, although he denied the assault when called to testify at Lynn's trial.
Lynn remains a priest in good standing with the church, and could return to ministry. He last served as pastor of St. Joseph's in Downingtown, an affluent suburban parish whose members supported Lynn at his trial.
A spokesman for the archdiocese did not immediately return a phone message Thursday.
Monsignor William Lynn left the prison in Waymart in northeastern Pennsylvania, prison spokeswoman Terri Fazio said, and was being taking by the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office to a city jail, where he would be fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
After that, he'll be released, probably to the custody of a family member, one of his lawyers said.
The attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, declined to say where in Philadelphia his client will live while prosecutors appeal the Superior Court ruling.
Lynn, 62, was the first U.S. church official ever charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children. He was the point person for those complaints in Philadelphia from 1992-2004.
Prosecutors charged him with felony child endangerment. But the appeals court said the law that existed at the time didn't cover people who don't directly supervise children.
Lynn's lawyers, including Jeffrey Lindy and Alan Tauber, had made that argument even before his 2011 indictment, but Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina sent the case to trial.
The Philadelphia archdiocese has been in the crosshairs of city prosecutors since 2002, when the priest-abuse scandal broke in Boston. Lynn, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other church officials — accompanied by lawyers — were grilled for days by an earlier grand jury that issued a damning report in 2005 but concluded that no charges could be filed.
Prosecutors tried again under District Attorney Seth Williams, who charged three priests with new sexual assault allegations in 2011 and Lynn with protecting the accused predators by hiding complaints in secret files. Bevilacqua, by then frail and elderly, was a potential witness in Lynn's case but died before trial. By that time, his mild-mannered successor, Cardinal Anthony Rigali, had been replaced in Philadelphia by dynamic Archbishop Charles Chaput.
Chaput has twice visited Lynn in prison and has said that no one person should become the scapegoat for the abuse crisis. Bergstrom, his attorney, said Lynn has become just that.
"There's clearly some reason to believe that that's what happened here," Bergstrom said.
Lynn, at his July 2012 sentencing, told Sarmina he tried his best to address the festering sex-abuse problem. He also voiced regret over his climb up the archdiocesan hierarchy.
"I am a parish priest. I should have stayed (one)," Lynn said.
Sarmina acknowledged that Lynn sometimes sent accused priests for therapy, but she said he ultimately protected the church's reputation over the souls of children. She sentenced him to three-to-six years in prison.
Lynn's conviction stems from the transfer of accused priest Edward Avery to a new parish, where he was later accused of raping a former altar boy in the church sacristy. Avery pleaded guilty and is serving 2 1/2- to five years in prison, although he denied the assault when called to testify at Lynn's trial.
Lynn remains a priest in good standing with the church, and could return to ministry. He last served as pastor of St. Joseph's in Downingtown, an affluent suburban parish whose members supported Lynn at his trial.
A spokesman for the archdiocese did not immediately return a phone message Thursday.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Philadelphia priest to be released from prison after appeals court reversal
(CNN) -- The first Roman Catholic priest in the United States imprisoned for covering up the crimes of offending priests was ordered to be released Thursday after an appeals court reversed his conviction.
Monsignor William Lynn has been in prison since he was convicted in July 2012. He was convicted of one count of child endangerment and sentenced to three to six years.
Attorney Thomas Bergstrom said Lynn could be released as soon as Friday, depending on paperwork.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said his office likely will appeal the ruling.
"I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the court's decision," he said.
Lynn's conviction was for not removing a defrocked priest, Edward Avery, from active ministry in the 1990s after learning Avery had molested a teen.
According to philly.com, Lynn's attorneys convinced the three-judge Superior Court panel that the laws at the time only applied to people who directly supervised children.
The founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a Detroit organization that provides assistance to accused priests, told philly.com the ruling will make prosecutors "reflect on who is really accountable for the damage that may have been done to victims of sexual abuse."
Marci Hamilton, a lawyer for alleged victims suing Lynn and the Philadelphia archdiocese, called the decision a "very technical reading of the law," the website reported.
Lynn, now 62, made no statement Thursday, but after he was convicted 18 months ago he said: "I've tried to serve God as best I could. My best was not good enough."
The landmark trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors had charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses, but also church leaders for failing to stop them.
Days before the trial began in March 2012, Avery pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child after admitting that he sexually assaulted the 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-99 school year. Avery, 71, was sentenced to 2½ to five years. He remains in prison.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Newark Corrections Officer Faces Indictment Charging Sexual Abuse of Detainee
NEWARK, NJ—A corrections officer with the Essex County Correctional Facility is expected to appear in court this afternoon for allegedly sexually assaulting a pretrial detainee in the facility and then lying about it to investigators, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Shawn D. Shaw, 40, of Newark, was charged by indictment with depriving an individual of rights under color of law and with obstruction of justice. The indictment was unsealed upon Shaw’s arrest on October 8, 2013. He appeared that day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo and was released on a $100,000 bond with home detention. Shaw has been suspended from his duties since his arrest. His arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg in Newark federal court.
According to the indictment:
On December 28, 2010, Shaw, while acting in his official capacity as a corrections officer, subjected a detainee in the custody of the Essex County Correctional Facility to aggravated sexual abuse that caused bodily injury to the victim.
When investigators questioned Shaw about the attack, he lied and intentionally omitted information from his statement in order to obstruct the investigation. Specifically, Shaw falsely stated that he did not make sexual comments to the detainee or enter the victim’s cell.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray, with providing valuable information.
The charge of deprivation of rights under color of law carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison. The obstruction of justice count carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine.
The government is represented by Criminal Division Chief Thomas Eicher and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark and Trial Attorney Shan Patel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Shawn D. Shaw, 40, of Newark, was charged by indictment with depriving an individual of rights under color of law and with obstruction of justice. The indictment was unsealed upon Shaw’s arrest on October 8, 2013. He appeared that day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo and was released on a $100,000 bond with home detention. Shaw has been suspended from his duties since his arrest. His arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg in Newark federal court.
According to the indictment:
On December 28, 2010, Shaw, while acting in his official capacity as a corrections officer, subjected a detainee in the custody of the Essex County Correctional Facility to aggravated sexual abuse that caused bodily injury to the victim.
When investigators questioned Shaw about the attack, he lied and intentionally omitted information from his statement in order to obstruct the investigation. Specifically, Shaw falsely stated that he did not make sexual comments to the detainee or enter the victim’s cell.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray, with providing valuable information.
The charge of deprivation of rights under color of law carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison. The obstruction of justice count carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine.
The government is represented by Criminal Division Chief Thomas Eicher and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark and Trial Attorney Shan Patel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Passaic teacher's aide Luis Martinez-Palencia accused of sexually abusing a preschool student
PASSAIC COUNTY - A Passaic County teacher is facing charges that he sexually abused a preschool student.
The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office says 62-year-old Luis Martinez-Palencia had sexual contact with a student while working as a teacher's aide at School 17 several years ago.
The alleged abuse happened when the boy was between 3 and 5 years old. They say he is now 8 years old and just recently told his mother.
The victim was a student in Martinez-Palencia's class at the time. Prosecutors say the alleged abuse happened inside the classroom on more than one occasion.
Passaic's superintendent would not say how long Martinez-Palencia worked for the district, and would not comment on the district's hiring policies.
Current employees at the school say the pre-screening process is extensive.
Martinez-Palencia is facing one count of official misconduct, one count of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors are working with child protective services to determine if he victimized other children.
The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office says 62-year-old Luis Martinez-Palencia had sexual contact with a student while working as a teacher's aide at School 17 several years ago.
The alleged abuse happened when the boy was between 3 and 5 years old. They say he is now 8 years old and just recently told his mother.
The victim was a student in Martinez-Palencia's class at the time. Prosecutors say the alleged abuse happened inside the classroom on more than one occasion.
Passaic's superintendent would not say how long Martinez-Palencia worked for the district, and would not comment on the district's hiring policies.
Current employees at the school say the pre-screening process is extensive.
Martinez-Palencia is facing one count of official misconduct, one count of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors are working with child protective services to determine if he victimized other children.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Man Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Abuse on the Umatilla Indian Reservation
PORTLAND, OR—U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown sentenced Thomas Lee Bear, 31, of Lewiston, Idaho, yesterday to 78 months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. In January 2013, Bear pled guilty before Judge Brown to sexual abuse of a minor. After Bear completes his prison term, he will be required to register as a sex offender and undergo sex offender treatment. Bear has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in this case in July 2012.
“It is absolutely repugnant for grown men to use the Internet to prey upon teenage girls,” said U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. “The rate of sexual abuse against girls in Indian Country is tragically high. The prison sentence in this case should serve as a warning to anyone who would do harm to the children of Tribal Nations.”
Bear admitted to having sexual intercourse with a girl on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in the fall of 2011. The victim, who was 14 years old at the time the sex abuse began, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Bear further admitted that he used a social networking website to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce the victim into having sexual intercourse.
This case was investigated by the Umatilla Tribal Police Department and the FBI’s Office in Pendleton, Oregon. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel.
“It is absolutely repugnant for grown men to use the Internet to prey upon teenage girls,” said U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. “The rate of sexual abuse against girls in Indian Country is tragically high. The prison sentence in this case should serve as a warning to anyone who would do harm to the children of Tribal Nations.”
Bear admitted to having sexual intercourse with a girl on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in the fall of 2011. The victim, who was 14 years old at the time the sex abuse began, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Bear further admitted that he used a social networking website to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce the victim into having sexual intercourse.
This case was investigated by the Umatilla Tribal Police Department and the FBI’s Office in Pendleton, Oregon. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel.
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