Defendant Prosecuted as Part of Federal Initiative to Address the Epidemic Incidence of Violence Against Native Women
ALBUQUERQUE - Lorin Nelson Dee, 49, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 30 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his federal abusive sexual contact conviction.
Dee was arrested in April 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. Dee subsequently was indicted on those two charges on May 7, 2014. According to court filings, Dee forced a Navajo woman to engage in a sexual act on April 23, 2014, at a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.
On Dec. 8, 2014, Dee pled guilty to Count 2 of the indictment, charging him with abusive sexual contact. In his plea agreement, Dee admitted using force to sexually abuse the victim by intentionally touching and rubbing her breast on April 23, 2014.
This case was investigated by the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.
The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
