South Dakota Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Sexual Abuse on Fort Belknap Reservation

GREAT FALLS — A South Dakota man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 12 years in federal prison for sexually abusing two minors on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Farron Gene American Horse, Sr., 40, received 148 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release after a jury found him guilty in April of sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the sentencing in Great Falls Federal District Court.

The crimes occurred in September and October 2020 in Hays, on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. According to court documents, American Horse sexually abused two girls who were between 12 and 16 years old at the time of the incidents.

In October 2020, one victim disclosed being sexually abused by American Horse. Around the same time, a second victim came forward and reported that American Horse had touched her inappropriately.

“The government alleged at trial and in court documents that American Horse sexually abused the victims in September and October 2020 in Hays,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelsey Hendricks and Kalah Paisley prosecuted the case. The FBI and Fort Belknap Law Enforcement Services conducted the investigation.

The sentencing represents another federal prosecution of violent crime on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. In July, a Harlem man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman on the reservation, and in August, a Hays woman pleaded guilty to strangulation during an altercation on the reservation.

Federal courts have jurisdiction over major crimes committed on Indian reservations, with the FBI typically leading investigations in partnership with tribal law enforcement agencies.