ALBUQUERQUE—Earlier today, a federal
judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico sentenced Cassidine McDonald, 24, an enrolled
member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Two Grey Hills, New Mexico, to a
15-year term of imprisonment for his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction.
McDonald will be on supervised release for five years after he completes his
prison sentence. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
McDonald was arrested on a criminal
complaint charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a minor child on March
31, 2011. He has been in federal custody since that time. On September 7, 2011,
McDonald entered a guilty plea to a criminal information charging him with
three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor. The information alleged that
McDonald sexually abused a child by penetrating her genitals with his finger on
three occasions between August 2010 and January 2011. Court records reflect
that the offenses occurred in Two Grey Hills, which is located on the Navajo
Indian Reservation.
In entering his guilty plea, McDonald
admitted that he engaged in sexual acts with a 4-year-old child victim on three
occasions between August 2010 and January 2011. In his plea agreement, McDonald
stated that each of the three offenses occurred in the same way: he became
aroused while bathing the child victim and inserted his finger into her
genitals until the child victim told him it hurt. McDonald admitted committing
these crimes in order to gratify his sexual desire.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said
that the investigation into the case was initiated after a pre-school teaching
assistant notified the Navajo Nation Department of Social Services that the
child victim may have been sexually abused. The Navajo Nation Department of
Social Services took custody of the child victim and alerted law enforcement
authorities.
The case was investigated by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Navajo Nation Department of
Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark T. Baker.
No comments:
Post a Comment