Tse Bonito Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Gerald Lee was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lee, 37, of Tse Bonito, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor on Aug. 9, 2023.

​A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Lee on Oct. 12, 2022. According to publicly available court documents, on May 15, 2021, when he was 35 years old, Lee forcibly raped the 15-year-old victim, Jane Doe, at his mother’s house within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation. Afterwards, Lee warned Jane Doe not to tell anybody about what he had done, but Jane Doe eventually told a teacher and counselor at her school. Lee initially claimed that he and Jane Doe were in a consensual sexual relationship and that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident before ultimately admitting that he raped Jane Doe.

Upon his release from prison, Lee will be subject to five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Bell is prosecuting the case.

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