A view of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Photo: Andrew Filer
A leader of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who was critical of the #NoDAPL movement has been convicted of sexually abusing a minor. Robert Fool Bear Sr., 54, was found guilty on four of five counts on Thursday. He was convicted of abusing a girl between 2009 and 2015. She was younger the age of 12 when the abuse started, according to court filings. The victim, described in filings as V.F.B., testified about the repeated abuse during a trial that began on Tuesday. She was in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, The Bismarck Tribune reported "It takes a lot of courage to come into a federal courtroom and testify in a case like this," Judge Daniel Hovland said, The Tribune reported. "I hope someday you can weather this well, go on with your life and put all this chaos behind you." Fool Bear has served as chairman of the Cannon Ball District on the North Dakota portion of the reservation since 2005, the paper reported. He was indicted in April 2016 but returned to the community after his arrest. Fool Bear later in the year told CNN that he wanted opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline to leave the community. He said they represented a danger to the people in Cannon Ball. The #NoDAPL encampment hosted tens of thousands of people in 2016 before it was dismantled in February at the insistence of the tribe and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some portions of the camp were located on the reservation while others were on land managed by the federal agency. Read More on the Story:
Tribal leader convicted of sexually abusing girl for years (KGFO 4/7)
Tribal leader found guilty on four counts of sexual abuse (The Bismarck Tribune 4/6)
Challenges in proving sexual abuse highlighted at trial of tribal leader (The Bismarck Tribune 4/5)
Trial begins for Cannon Ball leader accused of sex abuse (The Bismarck Tribune 4/4)
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