Man from Two Grey Hills Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Child Sexual Abuse Conviction
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 03, 2012 |
ALBUQUERQUE—Earlier today, a federal judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico sentenced Cassidine McDonald, 24, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Two Grey Hills, New Mexico, to a 15-year term of imprisonment for his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction. McDonald will be on supervised release for five years after he completes his prison sentence. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
McDonald was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a minor child on March 31, 2011. He has been in federal custody since that time. On September 7, 2011, McDonald entered a guilty plea to a criminal information charging him with three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor. The information alleged that McDonald sexually abused a child by penetrating her genitals with his finger on three occasions between August 2010 and January 2011. Court records reflect that the offenses occurred in Two Grey Hills, which is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
In entering his guilty plea, McDonald admitted that he engaged in sexual acts with a 4-year-old child victim on three occasions between August 2010 and January 2011. In his plea agreement, McDonald stated that each of the three offenses occurred in the same way: he became aroused while bathing the child victim and inserted his finger into her genitals until the child victim told him it hurt. McDonald admitted committing these crimes in order to gratify his sexual desire.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that the investigation into the case was initiated after a pre-school teaching assistant notified the Navajo Nation Department of Social Services that the child victim may have been sexually abused. The Navajo Nation Department of Social Services took custody of the child victim and alerted law enforcement authorities.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark T. Baker.