{"id":103445,"date":"2026-04-06T09:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=103445"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:31:13","slug":"bureau-of-indian-affairs-officer-pleads-guilty-to-sexually-abusing-teen-on-montana-reservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/bureau-of-indian-affairs-officer-pleads-guilty-to-sexually-abusing-teen-on-montana-reservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bureau of Indian Affairs officer pleads guilty to sexually abusing teen on Montana reservation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) \u2014 A former federal law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual abuse after prosecutors said he raped an intoxicated 14-year-old girl on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and tried to cover it up. Prosecutors said defendant Murrell Deela, who was then an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encountered the girl at a gas station on the reservation in southern Montana in August 2024. When the girl tried to run, Deela performed a \u201ctakedown maneuver\u201d on her, put her in the back of his patrol car and drove to an unlit park where he sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Deela later took the girl to her grandmother&#8217;s house. The girl reported the assault the next day, the documents said. After&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F04%2F06%2Fbureau-of-indian-affairs-officer-pleads-guilty-to-sexually-abusing-teen-on-montana-reservation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) \u2014 A former federal law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual abuse after prosecutors said he raped an intoxicated 14-year-old girl on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and tried to cover it up. Prosecutors said defendant Murrell Deela, who was then an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encountered the girl at a gas station on the reservation in southern Montana in August 2024. When the girl tried to run, Deela performed a \u201ctakedown maneuver\u201d on her, put her in the back of his patrol car and drove to an unlit park where he sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Deela later took the girl to her grandmother&#8217;s house. The girl reported the assault the next day, the documents said. After... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F04%2F06%2Fbureau-of-indian-affairs-officer-pleads-guilty-to-sexually-abusing-teen-on-montana-reservation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bureau of Indian Affairs officer pleads guilty to sexually abusing teen on Montana reservation - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/bureau-of-indian-affairs-officer-pleads-guilty-to-sexually-abusing-teen-on-montana-reservation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bureau of Indian Affairs officer pleads guilty to sexually abusing teen on Montana reservation - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) \u2014 A former federal law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual abuse after prosecutors said he raped an intoxicated 14-year-old girl on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and tried to cover it up. Prosecutors said defendant Murrell Deela, who was then an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encountered the girl at a gas station on the reservation in southern Montana in August 2024. When the girl tried to run, Deela performed a \u201ctakedown maneuver\u201d on her, put her in the back of his patrol car and drove to an unlit park where he sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Deela later took the girl to her grandmother&#8217;s house. The girl reported the assault the next day, the documents said. 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