Muldrow Resident Pleads Guilty To Child Abuse Charges

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that James Dean Bledsoe, age 32, of Muldrow, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to three counts of Child Abuse in Indian Country.

The Indictment alleged that between January 1, 2024, and September 24, 2024, Bledsoe willfully and maliciously harmed, failed to protect, and tortured three children in his care by restraining them, covering their mouths, and punishing them with cold water and by withholding food.  The crimes occurred in Sequoyah County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Muldrow Police Department.

The Honorable D. Edward Snow, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  Bledsoe will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Wittlinger represented the United States.