White Swan Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse of a Young Girl

Yakima, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Charlie Jim Peters, age 35, of White Swan, Washington was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of Sexual Abuse. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian imposed a sentence of 120 months imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release and sex offender registration.

According to Court documents, on or about July 12, 2020, on the Yakama Nation reservation, Peters molested a sixteen-year-old victim while the victim was asleep inside a camper van. DNA analysis later confirmed Peter’s DNA from a sample recovered from the crime scene.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref for the Eastern District of Washington commended the efforts of the FBI Agents, Yakama Nation Police Officers and Yakima County Sheriff’s Deputies which led to this case: “Our hearts go out to the victim and the victim’s family. No sentence can undo the emotional trauma the victim suffered in this case. I am grateful for the investigative efforts that identified Mr. Peters and for the agents and prosecutors who devote their careers to this challenging, but most important work.”

“Mr. Peters will fortunately spend the next ten years in prison.” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “While no sentence may seem long enough to a victim of his reprehensible actions, I commend her for taking the steps necessary which ultimately led to this sentence.  The FBI and our partners are committed to making our state’s reservations safer for the citizens who call them home.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Yakama Nation Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Michael Murphy, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

1:20-CR-02046-SAB