76-Year-Old Navajo Nation Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

     PHOENIX– Today, Rex Damon Begay, Sr., 76, of Ganado, Ariz., a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt to 10 years in prison followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.  Begay had previously pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact with a minor less than 12-years-old. Begay will also have to register as a sex offender.

      This case was brought to the attention of law enforcement after Arizona Child Protective Services alerted their counterparts on the Navajo Nation that a teenage Navajo girl had reported being sexually abused, several times, by Begay.  Through a collaborative effort across multiple jurisdictions, investigation revealed that Begay had sexually mistreated several other female Navajo young members spanning many decades.

      This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

      The investigation in this case was conducted by the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Rachel Reames Stoddard, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-15-8137-PCT-PGR (BSB)     

RELEASE NUMBER:   2016-015_Begay

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

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