Date: 06-02-2016

Case Style: United States of America v. Olaf James Haugen

Case Number: 1:15-cr-00005-SPW

Judge: Susan P. Watters

Court: United States District Court for the District of Montana (Yellowstone County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: John Sullivan and Lori A. Harper Suek

Defendant's Attorney: Gillian E. Gosch and Mark S. Werner

Description: Billings, MT - Lame Deer Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Prison for Rape

Olaf James Haugen, 29, of Lame Deer was sentenced today to 210 months in prison and 10 years’ supervised release for rape.

Haugan was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse following a two-day jury trial in Billings in December of 2015. Haugen was indicted by a grand jury in January on the single count of aggravated sexual abuse in January 2015. At trial, the government introduced evidence that Haugen physically and sexually assaulted the victim in August of 2013. A dispute started when the victim confronted Haugen about his drug abuse. Haugen became angry. He threatened to kill the victim with a pocket knife, raped her, hit her several times and bit her on the back. The assault started on the evening of August 31 and continued into the next morning.

The assault was heard by an individual in the adjoining room, but was not reported by that individual. Later, another individual came to the house and overheard the assault continuing. She reported the assault to the BIA and an officer responded to the scene. When the officer arrived, the victim opened a window and asked the officer to help her because Haugen was beating her up. Haugen initially refused to allow the officer into the room and threatened to stab himself, but eventually calmed down and was arrested.

The victim was examined by Indian Health Services after the assault. Her injuries included abrasions and contusions consistent with being struck, a large bite mark on her back and an abrasion on her throat consistent with having a knife held against it. The victim did not initially disclose the rape but was convinced by a family member to do so and reported the rape two days later. Haugen claimed the intercourse was consensual but gave conflicting accounts of the incident at trial and to investigating officers following his arrest.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Title 18 U.S.C. 2241 provides:

Aggravated sexual abuse

(a) By Force or Threat.—Whoever, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or agreement with the head of any Federal department or agency, knowingly causes another person to engage in a sexual act—

(1) by using force against that other person; or

(2) by threatening or placing that other person in fear that any person will be subjected to death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping;

or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.

(b) By Other Means.—Whoever, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or agreement with the head of any Federal department or agency, knowingly—

(1) renders another person unconscious and thereby engages in a sexual act with that other person; or

(2) administers to another person by force or threat of force, or without the knowledge or permission of that person, a drug, intoxicant, or other similar substance and thereby—

(A) substantially impairs the ability of that other person to appraise or control conduct; and

(B) engages in a sexual act with that other person;

or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.

(c) With Children.—Whoever crosses a State line with intent to engage in a sexual act with a person who has not attained the age of 12 years, or in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or agreement with the head of any Federal department or agency, knowingly engages in a sexual act with another person who has not attained the age of 12 years, or knowingly engages in a sexual act under the circumstances described in subsections (a) and (b) with another person who has attained the age of 12 years but has not attained the age of 16 years (and is at least 4 years younger than the person so engaging), or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not less than 30 years or for life. If the defendant has previously been convicted of another Federal offense under this subsection, or of a State offense that would have been an offense under either such provision had the offense occurred in a Federal prison, unless the death penalty is imposed, the defendant shall be sentenced to life in prison.

(d) State of Mind Proof Requirement.—In a prosecution under subsection (c) of this section, the Government need not prove that the defendant knew that the other person engaging in the sexual act had not attained the age of 12 years.

Title 18 U.S.C. 1153 provides:

§1153. Offenses committed within Indian country

(a) Any Indian who commits against the person or property of another Indian or other person any of the following offenses, namely, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, maiming, a felony under chapter 109A, incest, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of this title), an assault against an individual who has not attained the age of 16 years, felony child abuse or neglect, arson, burglary, robbery, and a felony under section 661 of this title within the Indian country, shall be subject to the same law and penalties as all other persons committing any of the above offenses, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.

(b) Any offense referred to in subsection (a) of this section that is not defined and punished by Federal law in force within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States shall be defined and punished in accordance with the laws of the State in which such offense was committed as are in force at the time of such offense.

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced 17 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: