Federal Jury Convicts Navajo Man on Federal Child Sexual Abuse Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a verdict today finding Brian Adrian Sloan guilty on aggravated child sexual abuse charges following a five-day trial.  The guilty verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Special Agent in Charge James C. Langenberg of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division.

The FBI arrested Sloan, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Newcomb, N.M., in Aug. 2016, on an indictment filed on Aug. 23, 2016, alleging child sexual abuse offenses.  The indictment was superseded on Jan. 24, 2017, and charged Sloan with sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 years on two occasions between May 2007 and Dec. 2007, and between May 2008 and Aug. 2008, and sexually abusing a second child under the age of 12 years between June 2003 and Aug. 2003.  According to the superseding indictment, Sloan committed the crimes on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M.

Trial on the superseding indictment commenced on Nov. 13, 2018, and concluded this morning when the jury returned a guilty verdict against Sloan on all four counts of the superseding indictment.

Testimony at trial established that Sloan began sexually abusing the victim referenced in Counts 1, 2 and 3 of the superseding indictment during the summer of 2007.  The victim, who was 11-years old when the sexual abuse began, testified being repeatedly sexually abused by Sloan from the beginning of the summer of 2007 through at least Aug. 2008.  According to testimony, Sloan would find the victim alone at home and sexually abuse the victim while threatening and being physically abusive.

The victim referenced in Count 4 testified that the victim stayed at a relative’s house on a night during the summer of 2003, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and during a night hide and seek game, the victim entered a dark bedroom where Sloan was hiding and Sloan grabbed and sexually molested the victim. 

The jury deliberated approximately three hours before returning a guilty verdict.

At sentencing, Sloan faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years and a maximum of life in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and will be required to register as a sex offender.  Sloan remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Novaline D. Wilson and Elisa C. Dimas are prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.