Belcourt Man Found Guilty of Child Sexual Abuse Charge

MINOT, ND—United States Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on February 3, 2011, John F. Wallette, 35, of Belcourt, North Dakota, was found guilty by a federal jury on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child after a three-day trial in the federal courthouse in Minot. The jury found that Wallette had engaged in various sexual acts with a child under the age of 12 from an unknown time to about July 2008. Additional evidence presented at trial indicated that Wallette also sexually abused other children while employed at a youth shelter facility in Belcourt.

Wallette faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in federal prison with a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs - Turtle Mountain Agency, and Northern Plains Children’s Advocacy Center. United States District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland presided over the trial. Sentencing for Wallette has been scheduled for April 25, 2011, in United States District Court in Minot, North Dakota, at 2:00 p.m.

The United States Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case under the Project Safe Childhood Initiative.

Assistant United States Attorney Gary Delorme is prosecuting the case.