Red Lake Man Sentenced for Sexually Abusing a Boy

A 22-year-old Red Lake man was sentenced earlier today in federal court in Fergus Falls for sexually abusing a boy on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in 2009. United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Eagle Wind Lajeunesse to 120 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release on one count of abusive sexual contact. He was indicted on November 4, 2009, and pleaded guilty on October 1, 2010.

In his plea agreement, Lajeunesse admitted that between September 1, 2008, and March 16, 2009, he knowingly engaged in sexual contact with a male who had not attained the age of 12. According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, Red Lake Family and Children Services contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 30, 2009, to report that the boy was being sexually abused.

Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal jurisdiction reservation, some of the crimes that occur there are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.