Blackfeet Tribal Member Sentenced 80 Months in Prison for Sex Abuse of a Minor at Lummi Tribe Elementary School
Young Victim Disclosed Abuse Years After the 2002-2003 Assaults
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 18, 2011 |
HAROLD RAVON DIGGS, 47, of Lapwai, Idaho, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, was sentenced on Tuesday November 15, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 80 months in prison, and ten years of supervised release for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor. U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly noted that the crime was a serious offense which deserved a serious term of incarceration.
According to records filed in the case, DIGGS worked as a reading tutor at the Lummi Indian Nation Elementary School in 2002-2003. DIGGS sexually molested a second grade student during the tutoring sessions. The student was not yet 12-years-old at the time of the abuse. The victim disclosed the abuse years later. DIGGS was arrested in May 2011, and has been in custody since his arrest.
The case is being prosecuted in federal court because the defendant is a tribal member and the abuse occurred on tribal land.
The case was investigated by the Lummi Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London. Mr. London serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.