Browning man sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping minor children on Blackfeet Indian Reservation

GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who admitted to repeatedly raping two children on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced today to 15 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Jonathan Cadotte, 60, pleaded guilty in August to a superseding information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and to aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The parties agreed in a plea agreement that a specific sentence of 15 years in prison was appropriate in the case.

In court documents, the government alleged that Cadotte is a child predator who repeatedly sexually assaulted small children in the Browning area, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Beginning in September 2019 and continuing for about a year, Cadotte engaged in a sexual act by force against a victim, identified as Jane Doe 1. And from 1993 to about 1998, also in the Browning area, Cadotte engaged in a sexual act with another child victim, identified as Jane Doe 2, who had not yet reached 12 years of age.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah A. Paisley prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.

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