Fort Yates Man Pleads Guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact

BISMARCK – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Sept. 3, 2013, Steven Whiteman Jr., 43, Fort Yates, N.D., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of abusive sexual contact.

Whiteman admitted using force to engage in sexual contact with a woman on Nov. 4, 2011, in the Fort Yates area.

The charge of abusive sexual contact carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Standing Rock Agency and the Standing Rock Police Department.

Sentencing for Whiteman has been scheduled for Nov. 18, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, N.D., at 10:00 a.m.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme is prosecuting the case.