Judge orders BIA to pay $1.6M to Lame Deer victim of BIA officer sexual assault

As reported by the Billings Gazette and confirmed by local sources, a U.S. district court judge in Montana ordered the federal government to pay a Lame Deer woman $1.6 million in damages stemming from a 2015 case where she was raped by a former BIA officer while he was on duty.

Judge Donald Molloy ruled that the former officer, Dana Bullcoming, also an enrolled Northern Cheyenne tribal member, was operating under the scope of his employment when he went to the home of the woman, identified only as L.B., and threatened to arrest her for drinking on the dry Northern Cheyenne reservation if she didn’t have sex with him. Bullcoming pleaded guilty to rape in 2017 and was sentenced to three years in prison. The victim became pregnant from the rape and is raising the child.

Molloy handed down his ruling after a one-day bench trial on Feb. 4 in Billings, ending a nearly decade-long legal saga for the victim that centered largely on the legal question of whether the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs should be held liable for Bullcoming’s actions as an employee.

In his ruling, Molloy noted that Bullcoming arrived at the victim’s residence in full uniform, wearing a badge and carrying his gun, and the sexual assault closely correlated with his job. The victim had called the authorities, worried about another person’s possible drinking and driving, and that’s why Bullcoming arrived at her home, according to court documents. He had the ability to arrest her for the alcohol violation, and he offered to forgo the arrest in exchange for sex, according to the ruling. Bullcoming then raped the woman. She became pregnant due to the incident.

In a criminal trial, he admitted in his deposition that he had sex with “a dozen or so” other women while policing on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law — part of a plea deal where prosecutors agreed not to prosecute him for sexual abuse and to dismiss two counts of lying to officers. Bullcoming served three years in federal prison for a crime that typically comes with a 10-year sentence.

Native American women are more likely to be sexually assaulted, to be the victims of domestic violence or to be murdered than any other group. Because of a complex web of overlapping laws, criminal jurisdiction on Indigenous reservations varies — depending on the reservation, state, federal or tribal authorities could be the ones responsible for responding to the calls of Indigenous people in distress.

“Under the totality of the circumstances, the record shows that Officer Bullcoming was at least partially motivated by an intent or purpose to serve the BIA’s interest because his tortious act was closely intermingled with his employment,” Molloy wrote.

The case began in 2018, when L.B. sued the U.S. government in federal court, seeking to hold the BIA liable for its officer’s action, according to The Daily Montanan. A federal judge in Montana rejected her claim, ruling the scope of employment only includes an employee’s actions if they are made “in furtherance of his employer’s interest.”

The victim with legal help appealed to the Ninth Circuit and the support of many groups which support the cause of MMIW which sent the case down to the Montana Supreme Court because it had not yet been litigated in Montana. A federal judge in 2020 awarded L.B. $1.6 million in damages but stopped short of ordering the federal government to pay, citing the previous ruling. In August 2022, the state Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could be responsible for the $1.6 million in damages.

L.B.’s attorney, John Heenan of Billings, told MTN News in 2024 that the victim plans to use the money from the damages to raise her child.

A number of Cheyenne women have made similar complaints regarding B.I.A. officers stationed on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, but this case is one of the first where the victim has received due consideration and compensation through the courts. Other victims have said they are often reluctant to report such incidents for fear of retaliation.  

(Contact Clara Caufield at acheyennereview@gmail.com)

The post Judge orders BIA to pay $1.6M to Lame Deer victim of BIA officer sexual assault first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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