Purported Ute Mountain Ute Medicine Man Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Five Victims

DURANGO – The United States Attorney for the District of Colorado announces that Lyndreth Hemp Wall, 59, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, was convicted of sexually assaulting five victims, including a child. A federal jury convicted Wall on 15 counts of Sexual Abuse in Indian Country and Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country.

According to the facts established at trial, Wall held himself out as a traditional Native American healer, sometimes referred to as a “medicine man.” Wall was elected to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council in 2020 and is a former school board member in Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1. Over the course of at least the past dozen years, Wall sexually exploited multiple women on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation under the guise of spiritual treatment. Wall created an elaborate ruse by using traditional elements of Ute healing to trick his victims into believing his actions were part of a healing ceremony. During his “ceremonies,” Wall isolated victims alone and touched them sexually for his own gratification. Wall told multiple victims that, if they told anyone about his sexual touching, the healing would not work.

Over the course of trial, the jury heard from the five women who alleged that Wall had committed sexual abuse in Towaoc, Colorado. The jury returned guilty verdicts for abuse of all five women charged in the indictment. The jury also heard from a sixth woman who alleged Wall had sexually assaulted her in Alamosa and Lone Tree in 2020 and 2021 under a rule of evidence that permits evidence of other sexual assaults.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. In addition to this case, Wall faces two separate allegations of sexual assault in Colorado state court. The charges in those pending cases are only allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Anyone who has information about other possible victims is asked to call the FBI Denver office at (303) 629-7171.

United States District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher presided over the trial.

The FBI Office in Durango, Colorado, handled the investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Towaoc, Colorado. Assistant United States Attorneys R. Josh Player and Jeffrey K. Graves handled the prosecution.

Case Number: 1:24-cr-00003-GPG-JMC