Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY, S.D. – A sexual abuse trial against a former Oglala Sioux Tribe council member began on Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Rapid City.
Howard Rooks, a former representative of the Medicine Root District on the Pine Ridge Reservation, was charged on March 21 with aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse.
Both charges carry the potential of a life sentence.
Rooks appeared Wednesday afternoon before a 13 person jury.
During opening statements, prosecutor Heather Knox outlined the alleged incident.
Knox said that following the annual Kyle Powwow on Aug. 13, 2023, Rooks allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old girl in the basement of his home in the Medicine Root District.
The victim, her mother and brother had been staying in the basement of Rooks and his wife’s Kyle residence for several years. Rooks’ wife is related to the victim
The following day, Knox said the victim called Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and was taken to the Indian Health Service hospital in Pine Ridge where hospital employees completed a rape kit. Samples were then sent away for testing.
Rooks’ attorney, Angela Colbath, said that throughout the trial the jury will find a lack of clarity in the evidence presented and witness testimony preventing them from finding Rooks guilty of both charges without a reasonable doubt.
As the alleged assault took place on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Rooks is charged in federal court – under the Major Crimes Act of 1885 violent crimes such as sexual assault committed in Indian Country fall under federal jurisdiction.
Rooks was suspended from his position on the tribal council on March 26 in a closed-door session.
The trial is expected to continue through the remainder of the week.
Key witnesses Wednesday included Brandi Tonkel, a forensic psychologist for the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota. Tonkel interviewed the victim following the alleged assault and testified to the difficulty children often face in describing in detail what occurred.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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