Pine Ridge Man Sentenced 15 Years for Inappropriately Touching a Young Girl

U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a man charged with abusive sexual contact of a child and failure to update as a sex offender was sentenced on October 6, 2010, by U.S. District Judge Richard H. Battey. Wambli Yellow Bird, Sr., age 34, of Pine Ridge, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment and lifetime supervised release.

Yellow Bird was indicted for aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact by a federal grand jury on August 25, 2009. Yellow Bird pled guilty on July 20, 2010, to an information admitting to inappropriately touching a girl's genitalia who had not attained the age of 12 years, as well as failing to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Oglala Sioux Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn G. Olson prosecuted the case. Yellow Bird was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.