Red Lake Man Sentenced for Assaulting a Woman

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in Duluth, a 44-year-old Red Lake man was sentenced for causing serious bodily injury to a woman after assaulting her while on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. On August 28, 2013, United States District Judge Richard H. Kyle sentenced Roderick Arlyn Sayers to 43 months in prison on one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Sayers was indicted on November 5, 2012, and convicted on April 16, 2013.

The evidence presented at trial proved that on November 25, 2011, Sayers assaulted the woman, which resulted in serious bodily injury.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deidre Y. Aanstad and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez.

Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal-jurisdiction reservation, some of the crimes that occur there are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The U.S. Justice Department is taking steps to increase engagement, coordination, and action relative to public safety in tribal communities, including the creation of the Violence Against Women Federal and Tribal Prosecution Task Force. This task force will explore current issues raised by professionals in the field and recommend “best practices” in prosecution strategies involving domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Violence against American Indian women occurs at epidemic rates. In 2005, Congress found that one in three American Indian women is raped during her lifetime, and American Indian women are nearly three times more likely to be battered in during their lives than Caucasian women.