At about the same time, Heather Dawn Thompson, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe of South Dakota, joined the U.S. attorney’s office in Rapid City. Thompson said she soon became an expert in sexual abuse cases because there were so many of them.

“There are a variety of historical reasons that people point to for this cycle in Indian country, one of which has to do with the federal policy of removing children from their homes and sending them to boarding schools during the late 1800s and much of the 1900s,” Thompson said.

Many studies tie sexual abuse to the intergenerational trauma that began in the secular and church-run boarding schools that Indian children were required to attend. Court documents and lawsuit settlements reveal how the boarding schools, especially in places like South Dakota, were centers of widespread sexual, emotional and physical abuse.

Many of the children who attended the schools are the parents and grandparents of today’s Native American children. “There were individuals who were willing to move out in the middle of nowhere in order to work at boarding schools with these children and there were some who had a pre-disposition for child sex abuse and many of the children were sexually abused,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, that has become a cycle that was passed down from generation to generation. You compound that with the poverty, socioeconomic and isolation issues in Indian country and unfortunately that cycle has not yet been broken.”

Armed with new information from Carnes, Thompson and a South Dakota FBI agent, Rick Lauck, moved aggressively on the Chipps case.

Soon, more young people claiming they had been victimized came forward.

On July 16, 2013, a federal grand jury indicted Chipps on 15 counts of rape, sexual abuse and intimidation of six minor victims. Besides the children in the indictment, older victims from South Dakota and other states came forward and alleged they were sexually abused by Chipps when they were younger, according to a filing by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Gifting

In a federal courtroom in Rapid City last year, Chipps was brought before a judge to determine whether he could be released pending trial.

An older relative testified on his behalf and said he could live with her if he was released. Glenyce Bean, a psychotherapist who had come to his Sundance ceremonial grounds and sweat lodge for years, also testified in his support, saying that she had taken care of him in recent years.

“I know him as a ceremonial leader,” Bean said. “People [look] up to him and he helps people. . . . He’s uncle or grandpa to almost everyone. I know him to be helpful. He has provided just lots of healing for many, many people, myself included, over many, many years.”

Tribal officer Pretty Bear testified, as did Carnes, the school counselor. Then, Hollie Strand, a forensic interviewer from the Child Advocacy Center of the Black Hills in Rapid City, took the stand.