MechaHitler — 1 year ago(November 02, 2024 04:43 AM)

Republican state House candidate indicted on sexual abuse charges
D.A. Wallowing Bull is GOP candidate in House District 41 in SE Montana
By: Blair Miller - August 21, 2024 12:39 pm
Photo illustration by Getty Images.
A Republican state House candidate from the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was indicted this month and arrested last week on multiple federal counts of sexual abuse and attempted sexual abuse on allegations dating back more than a decade.
Dean Allen “D.A.” Wallowing Bull, 45, faces two counts of sexual abuse and one count of attempted sexual abuse, according to the grand jury indictment filed on Aug. 7 and unsealed following his arrest on Aug. 13 in Billings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he is from Crow Agency, while his candidate filings said he is from Lame Deer.
Following his arrest last Tuesday in Billings, Wallowing Bill appeared in court last Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the three charges. The U.S. Attorney’s Office asked for him to be held pending his next hearings, and he was remanded into federal custody.
According to a redacted indictment, Wallowing Bull in December 2013 and January 2021 engaged in sexual acts with two separate people in Lame Deer while knowing they were “physically incapable of declining participation in, or communicating willingness to engage in, the sexual act.”
Additionally, the indictment says he attempted physical sexual conduct without consent with another person in either 2008 or 2009 in Lame Deer. The redacted indictment does not elaborate on any of the three instances, which involved three different people. The Montana State News Bureau first reported news of Wallowing Bull’s indictment on Tuesday.
If he is convicted, each count carries potential life in prison and fines up to $250,000.
Wallowing Bull ran unopposed in the House District 41 Republican primary and won 425 votes. He is set to face Democrat Jade Sooktis, who received 386 votes in her primary and also ran unopposed, in November. The deadline for candidates to remove themselves from the November ballot was Aug. 12, and Thursday is the deadline for the Secretary of State to certify the candidates and issues that will appear on November’s ballot.
Through June, Wallowing Bull had only reported raising $15 for his campaign, according to state campaign finance data.
HD 41 is on the Northern Cheyenne reservation and parts of the Crow Reservation in southeastern Montana and covers municipalities including Lame Deer, Busby, Kirby and Decker.
Wallowing Bull was one of dozens of Republican legislative candidates Gov. Greg Gianforte endorsed in April ahead of the June primary, in a news release calling the 58 candidates “strong, conservative leaders” who “share my commitment to make our state the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Gianforte’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Montanan on Tuesday morning regarding the governor’s thoughts on Wallowing Bull’s indictment and if he had rescinded the endorsement. The Montana State News Bureau reported a spokesperson for the campaign said Gianforte had pulled his endorsement after learning of the indictment.
“The governor is shocked by these disturbing charges and rescinds his endorsement,” spokesperson Anna Marian Block told the Montana State News Bureau.
Court records show a trial in the case is currently set for Oct. 21 at the James F. Battin Courthouse in Billings.
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