Heart Butte man sentenced to over 20 years for sexually abusing multiple children
Bradley Guardipee committed crimes while required to register as sex offender

By Staff Writer
May 28, 2025
GREAT FALLS — A Heart Butte man who sexually assaulted several children while failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements was sentenced Tuesday to 272 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release.
Bradley Joseph Guardipee, 27, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of commission of a sex offense by a registered sex offender, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme announced.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the sentencing hearing.
The case began when a victim disclosed in July 2024 that Guardipee had sexually assaulted her in 2022 when she was 11 years old. According to court documents, the girl was home sick from school and left alone with Guardipee at a Heart Butte residence on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
“She was taking a nap in another child’s bedroom while the other kids were at school. She woke up in pain to find her legs open and Guardipee on top of her penetrating her vagina with his penis,” prosecutors stated in court filings.
The victim reported knowing at least four other girls who were sexually abused by Guardipee. Subsequent forensic interviews revealed six girls had disclosed some type of abusive touching by the defendant.
Another victim reported being sexually abused by Guardipee since she was approximately three years old. In the most recent incident on March 6, 2024, when she was 12, Guardipee assaulted her after they had driven his grandfather to dialysis in Browning.
According to court documents, after dropping off the grandfather, Guardipee told the girl she could drive and instructed her to sit on his lap. “Guardipee grabbed Jane Doe by her arms and forced her onto his lap. Guardipee touched her on the breast and under her underwear, digitally penetrating her,” prosecutors alleged.
At the time of the March 2024 assault, Guardipee was required to register as a sex offender but had never complied with that requirement. The registration requirement stemmed from his May 22, 2023, guilty plea to sexual assault in Cascade County District Court.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah Paisley prosecuted the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a federal program that brings together law enforcement agencies and communities to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer.
The Department of Justice launched a strengthened violent crime reduction strategy in May 2021 based on core principles including fostering community trust, supporting violence prevention organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.
Guardipee’s 22-year-plus sentence reflects the serious nature of his crimes against multiple young victims over an extended period while he was already subject to sex offender registration requirements.
This article is part of our series on Indian Country Crime covering criminal cases prosecuted under federal jurisdiction on tribal lands, including investigations by the FBI and other federal agencies and court proceedings in federal district courts.
Stay in the loop—or help power the reporting
Get stories like this delivered to your inbox—or become a supporter to help keep local news bold and free.
A) Why wasn’t his failure to register followed up on? Who dropped that ball? The court? His parole officer? Both? B) Pedophiles never stop offending, never stop molesting and/or raping children until they die. Chemical castration never works. Neither does physical castration, the exceedingly few times it has been used (most often by relatives of the victims). As with adult rape, it is almost always about control, not sex. After multiple convictions, the pedophile often begins killing his victims, in order to avoid further incarceration – and the special “attention” they sometimes receive from other inmates, who do not like pedophiles at all.
I observed this as an officer working at San Diego PD, who was detailed in plainclothes to Crimes Against Persons, as well as in researching cases of pedophilia after taking classes in abnormal psychology. I have been told by “experts” that pedophiles are not recidivists 100% of the time – but they refuse to admit that the only reason some don’t is because they have died or been killed.